King Charles III is a King under siege as the elderly Royal faces multiple crises at the same time.
Whether it’s the feud between Prince Harry and Prince William, the war between Harry and the Royal Family as an institution, or the various health issues faced by members of the family including himself, Charles has a lot on his plate. And it seems like there’s one battle he just can’t win, no matter how hard he tries — but there’s a chance his loss could help William after the succession.
Charles has come under fire for his attempts to oust his brother, the disgraced Prince Andrew, from his luxurious — and expensive — residence in the Royal Lodge on palace grounds. Unfortunately for the King, it looks like the attempts will come to nothing as Andrew is set to stay firmly where he wants.
Andrew, who is well known for his less than savory — and in some cases outright criminal — behavior, was issued an ultimatum by the King, who told his brother he could move out of the Royal Lodge or pay his own costs. The Prince, who had signed a 75-year lease on the property after the death of the Queen Mother in 2003, refused the order. Consequently, the King removed his staggering £1,000,000 a year allowance as his next step in the battle to get his brother out.
This didn’t seem to matter to Andrew, who remains in his tenancy at the Royal Lodge and shows no signs of preparing to leave. A Royal source has stated that Andrew is “determined to stay” in the Royal Lodge and has found the funds needed to make it happen. Although the King has attempted every trick in the book to get his brother to leave the £30 million ($38 million) home, he doesn’t actually have the authority to force Andrew to leave. Suppose Andrew can maintain the home and its security using his own funds now that his taxpayer-funded allowances are gone. In that case, no one can remove him from the lodge — although there are suggestions his newfound financial independence has a nefarious origin.
According to Royal biographer Robert Hardman, whose book on King Charles has already led to a number of revelations about the Royal family (including Prince William’s university woes), it was the late Queen Elizabeth II who wanted Andrew out of the property, but she died before it could happen.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, a friend of the Prince is reported to have said the Royal Lodge is “all he has left,” saying that it was “wicked of the king to try and take it off him.” Not content with only living his life in the luxury he feels he deserves, Andrew wants his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, to inherit the lease from him. A different friend suggests that heir to the throne William “will be glad of having Eugenie or Beatrice there in years to come,” as he will be able to lean on his Royal cousins for support in the future.
There is no predicting if either of them will end up aiding William in his royal duties or not, but in the absence of Prince Harry providing the support he would need as the king, the Prince of Wales can use all the help he can get.
Whether Andrew’s continued tenancy will go on to benefit Prince William in his days on the throne remains to be seen, but given the highly public royal spat between him and Prince Harry, it probably wouldn’t hurt to have someone around for backup and an ear to listen to Royal woes. But are Beatrice and Eugenie even the right people for this task, given the rumors that they are much closer to Harry and Meghan than they are to William and Kate?