After revelations about his alleged ties to trafficker Jeffrey Epstein came to light, Prince Andrew was eventually cut off from his sizable allowance from the royal family. But he's still trying to hold on to one of his biggest assets.
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00:00After revelations about his alleged ties to trafficker Jeffrey Epstein came to light,
00:05Prince Andrew was eventually cut off from his sizable allowance from the royal family.
00:09But he's still trying to hold on to one of his biggest assets. Andrew was publicly punished
00:14in January 2022 when Queen Elizabeth II stripped him of his military titles and his His Royal
00:19Highness honorific. That was just a month before Andrew settled a lawsuit filed by Virginia Dufresne,
00:25who claimed Epstein had trafficked her to the Duke of York when she was just 17.
00:29"[Ghislaine tells me that I have to do for Andrew what I do for Jeffrey.]
00:36Andrew was apparently able to keep his allowance, though, until some time after his mother's death.
00:40An updated version of author Robert Hartman's book Charles III, New King, New Court,
00:45The Inside Story confirms that King Charles stopped giving Andrew a yearly allowance at
00:49some point. A source confirmed this to the Daily Mail, saying,
00:52"[The Duke is no longer a financial burden on the king.]
00:55Just how much of a burden was he?" According to the Daily Mail,
00:59Andrew's allowance was about £1 million per year, which shakes out to roughly $1.3 million.
01:04Charles also reportedly took it a step further and is also no longer paying for his brother's
01:09private security, which reportedly costs seven figures itself. Andrew has fallen quite a long
01:14way. At one time, before the births of Charles' sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, he was
01:19second in line for the throne behind his older brother. Now, he's pretty much persona non grata
01:23within the royal family, and the public seems to largely agree that he ought to be.
01:27"...probably it's just well dodgy. I just think that he was paying off because he was guilty."
01:32Andrew, of course, does not, though. His relationship with Charles is said to be
01:36more strained than ever. That said, Charles has shown at least some leniency for Andrew.
01:40Before her death in September 2022, Queen Elizabeth reportedly wanted Andrew kicked
01:45out of his home, the Royal Lodge, in Windsor. Charles has yet to force Andrew to move,
01:50though. Instead, it seems Charles has tried to convince Andrew to leave on his own accord,
01:54which hasn't worked yet. The Duke of York has been living at the Royal Lodge since 2004,
01:59when he signed a 75-year lease in hopes that his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie,
02:04would eventually call it home. Unfortunately, the upkeep of the 30-room mansion is said to cost
02:09$520,000 per year. Andrew has reportedly been neglecting that upkeep, and now the house needs
02:16repairs estimated to cost more than $2.6 million. It's abundantly clear that Prince Andrew is not
02:23interested in leaving his home until he has no other choice. But it's not like Charles wants
02:27to toss his brother out onto the street. He has offered Andrew the former residence of Prince
02:31Harry and Meghan Markle, Frogmore Cottage, which is smaller than the Royal Lodge but
02:35also on the Windsor estate. Queen Elizabeth also wanted Andrew to move there.
02:39In an interview with The Sun, royal expert Hugo Vickers said that Andrew losing his allowance
02:44and the desire to get him to move out of the Royal Lodge are likely connected, explaining,
02:48"...it does look to me as though they're trying to push him out, and if he can't repair it,
02:52and he can't afford to repair it, he will obviously have to go at some point,
02:56simple as that. What would be nice would be if he actually made that decision himself.
03:00That would be the dignified way of doing it."
03:02But Vickers doesn't think Andrew willingly giving up his home is likely. He added,
03:06"...it looks like an admission of guilt, which he isn't prepared to do."
03:10Prepared or not, though, if the Royal Lodge becomes so run down that it's
03:13unlivable and he can't afford to fix it, Andrew may end up with no choice.