King ‘cuts financial ties to disgraced Andrew after refusal to move out of home’
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The King is cutting financial ties to the disgraced Duke of York after he refused to move out of his home, a royal writer has claimed.
In what is a new low in the brothers’ relationship, Prince Andrew’s annual £1 million “living allowance” has been withdrawn by Charles, according to a new book by Robert Hardman.
The move will be seen as another step the monarch has taken to publicly distance himself from his younger brother following his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Hardman writes in his forthcoming book, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail, that the keeper of the privy purse was “instructed to sever his living allowance” after Andrew reportedly refused to move out of the Royal Lodge, a 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park, into the nearby smaller Frogmore Cottage.
The duke was said to have signed a 75-lease on the Royal Lodge in 2003.
Citing an insider source, Mr Hardman writes: “’The duke is no longer a financial burden on the King,’ confirms one familiar with the situation.
“’He claims to have found other sources of income related to his contacts in international trade, sufficient to cover all his costs – which would be a welcome outcome for all parties if that turns out to be the case.
“‘But as to whether this funding can be relied upon in the long term is another matter.’”
This comes after The Sun on Sunday reported in August that the King was axing Andrew’s security at the Royal Lodge, which had been privately funded by Charles after his brother lost publicly-funded police protection in 2022.
In July, palace officials confirmed that Frogmore Cottage, the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, remained empty more than a year after they officially vacated the property.
Pressure mounted on Andrew earlier this year after the unsealing of hundreds of pages of court documents connected to the Epstein scandal, which detailed how the financier’s former housekeeper Juan Alessi claimed the duke had daily massages when he spent “weeks” at the paedophile’s Florida home.
Previous allegations that Andrew sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre three times when she was 17 years old, including during an orgy, also resurfaced in the court documents.
He has strenuously denied the allegations, saying he never met her, and in 2022 paid millions to Ms Giuffre to settle a civil case out of court.
The Independent has approached Buckingham Palace for further comment.
