After a fling with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (and an infamous BBC Newsnight interview), Prince Andrew stepped away from royal life in 2019, but Queen Elizabeth's son still lives at the Royal Lodge at Windsor Manor. As a new book reveals that King Charles has cut Andrew off financially, a royal expert offers his opinion on why the Duke of York refuses to leave home.

In the latest edition of Robert Hardman's “Charles III: The New King.New Court. The Inside Story,” he notes that King Charles reportedly took away his brother's allowance of about $1.3 million and that “the Duke is no longer a financial burden for the King.” He writes.

And while the Duke of York may no longer receive money from his brother, he seems unwilling to surrender the Royal Lodge, which is not covered by the security perimeter surrounding Windsor Castle. Andrew, like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, lost his taxpayer-funded security rights after being stripped of his royal duties, and until recently, the cost of his home police team was reportedly paid for privately by Queen Elizabeth and later King Charles.

Hugo Vickers, an expert on the royal family, told The Sun that “the ideal situation would of course be for Andrew to volunteer to downsize and move somewhere else,” and that Frogmore Cottage, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's former home, is the “ideal” option, he noted.

Prince Andrew has lived at the Royal Lodge with his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, for 20 years, and while there may be sentimental reasons for wanting to stay, Vickers said the prince could have deeper motives.

“I think the prince feels that to leave the Royal Lodge is to publicly accept unproven guilt,” the royal expert said, citing the sexual assault case of Prince Andreu and Virginia Giuffre, which was settled out of court in 2022. tweeted.

Whether or not that is a reason to stay in Windsor, Vickers noted that Andrew's lifestyle is currently too pricey.

“If you were running a charity, you wouldn't have Prince Andrew as a guest of honor. So no one wants him in public,” the author said, adding that, nevertheless, Andrew still ”lives at the Royal Lodge, plays golf, sees his children and grandchildren, rides horses in the park, and it's expensive.”

He continued that the property, which is reported to be in significant need of repair due to mold and other damage, requires hefty upkeep, something Andrew, a former helicopter pilot, “probably cannot afford to do.”

“It certainly looks like he's just holding down the fort and refusing to make repairs and refusing to go,” Vickers told the Sun.

“He would do himself a favor if he could find a respectable way to move somewhere else,” Vickers wrote, explaining that Frogmore Cottage was “within the security perimeter” and “makes perfect sense” as an alternative residence.

As for Prince Charles, the royal expert noted that the monarch would not be “vindictive about his brother” by asking him to leave. But if the Duke of York “proves stubborn and refuses to leave, I imagine things will get even worse,” he said, noting that the two are not close.

“There is nothing to stop the King from actually ordering us to leave the Royal Lodge,” Vickers said, but it remains to be seen whether Prince Charles will drag his feet.