\n<\/p>\n
This Christmas, as the Windsors gather in Norfolk for their usual days-long celebration of carolling, football (that is, soccer), and charades, one notorious name is notably not<\/em> on the invite list: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,<\/strong> the British commoner formerly known as Prince Andrew<\/a>. As he did last year\u2014and every year since he stepped down from his royal duties in 2019\u2014the late Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s third, and allegedly, favorite<\/a> son will likely spend his last Christmas at his longtime home, Royal Lodge, alone perhaps, but for his ex-wife and some moving boxes.<\/p>\n In October, when Andrew-accuser Virginia Robert Giuffre\u2019s damning posthumous memoir<\/a> Nobody\u2019s Girl<\/em> debuted atop international bestseller lists, King Charles III<\/strong> stripped his younger brother of his title and served an eviction notice heard across the world. \u201cHis lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation,\u201d read the stern statement from Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n But this reportedly unemployed 65-year-old\u2019s \u201calternate private accommodation\u201d probably won\u2019t be a one-bedroom flat. Instead, the ex-duke is expected to move to the king\u2019s private residence, Sandringham\u2014ironically, the very same Norfolk estate that won\u2019t allow his awkward presence at Christmas dinner. That is, if he moves at all. The black sheep brother reportedly<\/a> isn\u2019t keen to relocate\u2014or even cooperate. Especially when he\u2019s got a deal signed by his mom<\/a> and tenants\u2019 rights working firmly in his favor. (A spokesperson for the palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n When Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, died in 2002, the then-prince took over his grandmother\u2019s lease at Royal Lodge, where she had resided for 50 long years. As is the way of the royal family, details were negotiated individually and kept private. That is, until recently, when the UK\u2019s Public Accounts Committee publicized Andrew\u2019s so-called \u201cpeppercorn deal<\/a>,\u201d in which a very nominal payment serves to recast a gift as a sale. For the 30-room mansion worth an estimated \u00a330 million ($40.2 million USD), the then-Duke of York paid \u00a31 million upfront and \u00a37.5 million in refurbishments to live at Royal Lodge for 75 years. He was set to pay a symbolic \u201cone peppercorn (if demanded)\u201d annual rent\u2014in other words, almost nothing, until the lease expired in 2078. At that point, Mountbatten-Windsor would be 118 years old.<\/p>\n Until then, Andrew has tenants\u2019 rights just like the rest of us serfs. And provided he pays his peppercorn, he actually cannot be legally evicted\u2014whatever the palace says. Officially, their hard-stop move-out day for Andrew is January 31, per People<\/a>.<\/em> Unofficially? \u201cCharles is appearing to act tough, but it\u2019s all smoke and mirrors and window dressing,\u201d says biographer Andrew Lownie,<\/strong> author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York.<\/em> \u201cBehind the scenes, there\u2019s nothing they can do. Andrew can only go voluntarily.\u201d<\/p>\n As such, explains Lownie, the monarchy is \u201coperating like they always do: with a mixture of pressure and patronage.\u201d The strategy works both ways. Mountbatten-Windsor is reportedly \u201cinsisting on another big house, an extensive staff, his daughters<\/a> being protected, and shielded guarantees for when William becomes king\u2014since William wants him out and gone by the time he comes to the throne,\u201d says Lownie. Which prompts another question: Where to? And why? (A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n Short of leaving the country entirely, the furthest possible royal property where \u201cRandy Andy\u201d could be tucked away is the privately owned Sandringham Estate, some 112 miles northeast of the royal family headquarters in London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nA Rock-Solid Royal Lease<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Sandringham\u2019s Not-Big-Enough Big House<\/strong><\/h2>\n