Prince Andrew is such a drama queen. Andrew and his team have spent the past four days briefing about Andrew’s living situation in Royal Lodge. Andrew has a 75-year lease on Royal Lodge, but King Charles wants to evict him and put him in Frogmore Cottage (where Andrew would be able to live rent-free). Prince William wants Royal Lodge for himself, and I suspect William is largely behind all of this. Andrew is behaving like it’s the worst thing in the world to be evicted from a home he can’t afford to maintain, and for which he had some kind of sweetheart-deal with his mother. After loudly protesting his eviction and issuing threats about his squatter’s rights, “sources close to King Charles” have told the Daily Beast that Andrew will definitely be evicted no matter what.
Friends of the royals have told The Daily Beast that they suspect media forays by Prince Andrew’s camp in recent days, suggesting he will not willingly move out of his vast home, the 30-room Royal Lodge, are “maneuvers” to “get a better deal,” and that he will eventually comply with his brother’s wishes and move out of the mansion.
A friend of King Charles’ told The Daily Beast: “In the end, Andrew will play ball. The house is far too big and expensive for him to run without the king’s support and goodwill. The speculation is that he is ‘on maneuvers,’ and trying to get a better deal.”
The friend said they did not know the detail of the negotiations between Andrew and Buckingham Palace, but said that they suspected Andrew would be looking for a generous financial pay-off to surrender the lease and downsize to Frogmore Cottage, the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which he has reportedly been offered.
The friend added: “It’s the memoir all over again,” referring to stories earlier this year that Andrew would contemplate writing a memoir if he was pushed out of royal life.
A friend of Prince William’s also scoffed at reports that Andrew could try and hang on to Royal Lodge in defiance of his brother. The friend said: “It’s a hugely expensive house to run and he doesn’t have any money, so if they want him out he’ll have to go.”
Royal Lodge is understood to be earmarked for William and Kate, who currently live in a more modest property on the Windsor Estate. The Daily Beast understands that William and Kate are not pressuring Andrew to leave and are perfectly happy at their current four-bedroom home, Adelaide Cottage.
[From The Daily Beast]
This is the funniest part: “The Daily Beast understands that William and Kate are not pressuring Andrew to leave and are perfectly happy at their current four-bedroom home, Adelaide Cottage.” You know damn well that William and Kate have been briefing every friendly journalist for years now that Royal Lodge should be theirs, that Andrew needs to be pushed out, that their fourth home is much too cramped and undignified for the heir to the throne.
Anyway, I agree that Andrew is creating all of this drama as a way to negotiate with Charles. He absolutely did the same thing when it came to settling out-of-court with Virginia Giuffre, and he did the same with his “memoir” and everything else. Andrew is the worst, but Charles still gives in to his stupid brother because A) Andrew knows too much and B) Andrew will sell out anyone for, like, $50 and a stick of gum.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
Source: Read Full Article