The King’s disgraced brother Andrew will not move from his Windsor mansion to Sandringham until after Christmas, because of the lengthy process of giving up his home.
Charles stripped his younger sibling of his Prince and Duke of York titles after the continued public outcry over his connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and sexual assault claims, and Andrew, who denies the allegations, has agreed to move out of his 30-room home.
Sandringham in Norfolk is the venue for the traditional Christmas gathering for members of the royal family and the delay will mean any potential encounter with Andrew over the festive period is avoided.
After the King’s dramatic decision to take action against his brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the disgraced former duke is said to be “sanguine” about events, according to the Telegraph newspaper.
Andrew will move to an undisclosed property on the King’s Sandringham estate, with the accommodation privately funded by the King, who will also make private financial provisions for his brother.
The former prince had a “cast-iron” lease for his Royal Lodge home and only after negotiations with the King’s representatives did he agree to serve formal notice on Thursday to surrender the lease, which had more than 50 years left to run.
But the process around surrendering the lease and other formalities has some similarities with buying a property, which can be drawn out, although it is understood things are moving as quickly as practicable.
