King Charles, 74, is reportedly “tired and furious” with the behavior of disgraced younger brother Prince Andrew and son Prince Harry. Although perhaps now that Prince Harry has officially confirmed his attendance for the coronation on May 6th (albeit without his wife and kids) he has moved up in his good books, whereas Prince Andrew has continued to give the new monarch a headache!
According to Page Six, the original spare is “refusing” to move out of his $37M Windsor home, Royal Lodge, which is located three miles south of Windsor Castle, despite King Charles rather controversially asking Prince Harry, 38, and Meghan Markle, 41, to vacate Frogmore Cottage so he could give it to Prince Andrew, 63, instead. The disgraced Duke of York’s reported reluctance to move from the 30-room mansion, which he has lived in with ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, since 2004, has allegedly “infuriated” King Charles, with an insider telling Page Six: “Relations between the King and his brother have never been this bad. It has turned into a real battle which he never expected and it’s left him tired and infuriated.”
READ MORE: Prince Andrew Is Reportedly ‘Furious’ About This Snub At The Coronation: ‘Humiliating’
Prince Andrew Reportedly Resisting Move To Frogmore Cottage
If we are to believe the reports, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to evict the five-bedroom property shortly after the coronation, which will then hopefully see Prince Andrew become its new resident if King Charles gets his wish. However, The Independent reports that Prince Andrew is making things very difficult, and is "resisting" any attempts to move him out of Royal Lodge and into the smaller royal property.
Back in March, The Sun quoted a source who said Andrew remains "resolute" that he will stay at Royal Lodge and had not accepted the offer to move. At the time of writing, it still doesn’t seem like Prince Andrew's position has changed, although his hand *may* be forced if he finds himself unable to cover the cost of maintenance, as King Charles will reportedly be slashing his £249,000 annual allowance from this month and he has still yet to receive his inheritance from the late Queen Elizabeth II. A source told The Daily Mail earlier this year that Prince Andrew was "not being explicitly kicked out but it’s expected that he won’t be able to afford the maintenance."
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Prince Andrew reportedly signed a 75-year lease for £1M and has spent around £7.5M repairing and renovating the property, so that might be one of the reasons he doesn’t want to vacate it.
However, another reason might have something to do with Prince Andrew reportedly seeing Royal Lodge as a "symbol of senior royalty," which might actually be one of the reasons King Charles doesn’t want him there, as he was fired as a working royal as a result of the sexual assault lawsuit against him by Virginia Giuffre and his alleged friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and therefore doesn’t need such a grand residence.
The Prince And Princess Of Wales Reportedly Want To Move Into Royal Lodge
There might be another reason King Charles wants Prince Andrew out of Royal Lodge – and that might be because Prince William and Kate Middleton want it instead! The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4, moved to Adelaide Cottage, which is near Royal Lodge, less than a year ago. However, it's reportedly a little small for the family of five as it only has four bedrooms, and Prince William apparently needs more office space now that he is the Prince of Wales and has even more responsibilities.
"Andrew doesn’t want to leave because the property is seen as a symbol of senior royalty — an important property in the family’s portfolio," a royal insider reportedly told Page Six. "But William, who is the heir to the throne, has his eye on it."
"The cottage they live in once belonged to people who worked for the royals — such as Group Captain Peter Townsend, who had a romance with Princess Margaret and who described it as an 'ice box' — and is very cramped," said royal commentator Joshua Rom, according to Page Six. "It makes a lot more sense for William to have this house to reflect his new role particularly as Andrew is no longer a 'working royal' and therefore doesn’t need an office or to entertain dignitaries."
