Prince Andrew’s determination to stay in his £30m Royal Lodge home could be crushed due to one key detail, according to a property expert.
The Duke of York has been refusing to leave the 30-bedroom property in Windsor, where he resides with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and is currently embroiled in a royal feud with his brother, King Charles, over his living situation.
Andrew has been struggling with the upkeep of the grade II-listed property, as he is required to “repair, renew, uphold, clean and keep in repair and, where necessary, rebuild” the mansion, according to the 75-year lease agreement granted to him in 2003 by the Crown Estate.
Charles has been asking Andrew to move out of the property and move into the much smaller Frogmore Cottage, the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
But while the Duke is thought to be determined to stay put, a property expert has pinpointed there is one key detail which could mean that the royal feud between the two brothers will not be ending anytime soon – Andrew does not own the mansion, but the Crown Estate does.
Robin Edwards, buying agent at Curetons Property Finders, explained to GB News: “In August 2003, Prince Andrew was granted a 75-year lease from the Crown Estate, encompassing Royal Lodge, several cottages, a chapel lodge, police accommodation and 40 hectares of land.
“It is just a lease agreement though, he does not own the property and it ultimately remains the property of the Crown Estate.”
Apart from being required to “repair, renew, uphold, clean and keep in repair and, where necessary, rebuild” the property, the lease agreement also specified that the walls of the mansion must be repainted every five years “with two coats of paint”.
Inside the house, the duke is forced to “paint with at least two coats of paint and to paper, polish, decorate and otherwise appropriately treat” every seven years, starting from 2010.
The King has reportedly warned that he’ll cease Andrew’s funding of more than £4 million a year if he doesn’t manage to take care of the maintenance.
The Duke of York is no longer a working royal after he stepped down from royal duties in 2019, following the furore over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
