ANGELA LEVIN: Does Charles and Andrew’s battle have roots in a plot to replace his brother as King?

There are understandable reasons why King Charles would want his younger brother to move out of the 30-room Royal Lodge, the Queen Mother’s former mansion on the Windsor estate.

For example, you need to cut costs.

The king has correctly identified the cost of the monarchy as an important political issue and a potentially dangerous one. So he has reduced the £250,000 annual grant that Andrew received each year from their late mother.

Is it proper for a disgraced prince to live in such style? Not everyone would think so. Plus, Andrew’s kids are all grown up, so it’s not like he needs the space.

Royal Lodge, a £30 million mansion on Windsor Estate (pictured) where Andrew has lived for 20 years, is now a major bone of contention between Charles and Andrew

The late Queen had a soft spot for Prince Andrew, her second son, and found it hard to say “no” to him. The two are pictured in April 1980

And then there is the question of where Prince William, heir to the throne, should live with his young family.

At present, the Welsh are at nearby Adelaide Cottage, but few doubt that Royal Lodge is a more suitable home for a future king.

Still, I think there are other, even more personal reasons that might color Charles’ determination to get his younger brother out of Royal Lodge. Reasons rooted in their own family history and perhaps related to one particular episode in particular.

The first point is that their mother, the late Queen, had a soft spot for Prince Andrew, her second son, and found it difficult to say “no” to him.

Prince Philip, meanwhile, was proud of Andrew’s macho demeanor and was delighted to follow him into the navy.

Perhaps it is therefore not surprising that Andrew became rather short-tempered, or that the personality differences between the two princes led to comparisons that were not always favorable to Charles.

For all the love that existed between Prince Philip and his thoughtful eldest son, the Duke of Edinburgh is also thought to have found Charles a bit of a puzzle.

Charles and Andrew are very different people – and it’s worth remembering that fact when it comes to the ongoing row over the future of £30 million Royal Lodge.

While Charles wants Andrew downsized to the nearby five-bedroom Frogmore Cottage, which is no longer in use by Harry and Meghan, it would be perfectly understandable if the younger man felt there was a personal dimension to the question.

Queen Elizabeth with Prince Philip and their three sons, Andrew, Charles and Edward on holiday in Balmoral in 1979

The Queen, Prince Andrew, the late Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne aboard an aircraft carrier in 2001 after Andrew’s return from the Falkland Islands. Philip was proud that Andrew had followed him into the Navy

Andrew came to believe he would make a better king than his brother – and according to author Angela Levin, he tried to persuade Queen Elizabeth to remove Charles from the line of succession

King Charles wants Prince Andrew to downsize to nearby five-bedroom Frogmore Cottage, no longer in use by Harry and Meghan

As revealed by The Mail on Sunday, Andrew remains determined not to move.

His children – including the heavily pregnant Eugenie – are frequent visitors and ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, spends much of her time there.

How long can he hold out? It’s hard to say. Andrew signed a 75-year lease with the Crown Estate, not the late Queen, and that lease has a long way to go.

At the same time, however, he is contractually obligated to keep the mansion in good order and, unless a generous benefactor steps forward, it is unlikely that he can afford to do so.

Even this battle of bricks and mortar is, in the grand scheme of things, no more than a quarrel. The brothers, with very different personalities, values ​​and approaches to life, have been rivals for some time.

Andrew, like Harry, was the ‘reserve’, second in line to the throne until Prince William was born in 1982 and replaced him in the succession.

Angela Levin believes Andrew, Fergie and Princess Diana conspired to push Prince Charles aside so that Prince Andrew could become regent to Prince William, who was still a teenager at the time. Pictured: Princess Diana talking to Sara and Prince Andrew in 1987

Andrew did his best to get the late queen to agree to their plan so that William, not Charles, would be king with Andrew as regent until William was old enough to take the throne.

And he became convinced that he would outperform his more sensitive older brother.

I am told by a royal insider that there were discussions between Andrew, Fergie and Princess Diana about how Prince Charles could be overruled.

This would have left Andrew as regent to Prince William, who was still a teenager at the time, effectively enthroning the Duke of York.

As I explain in my book, Camilla, From Outcast to Queen Consort, Andrew went so far as to try to persuade the late Queen to agree to their plan.

And that he did his best to keep Charles from marrying Camilla too.

“His behavior became very, very negative and extremely obnoxious when he didn’t get his way,” my source said.

Around that time – and during much debate over the appropriateness of Charles marrying Camilla – Queen Elizabeth engaged in serious closed-door discussions with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George (now Lord) Carey.

Queen Elizabeth leaves St Georges Chapel with the Archbishop of Canterbury after a Golden Jubilee service

Andrew apparently claimed that Camilla was insufficiently aristocratic and that she could not be trusted. But he did not convince Queen Elizabeth that these things were true

When I was writing Camilla’s biography last year, Lord Carey told me that he had spoken positively to the Queen about Charles’s marriage to Camilla, the woman he loved.

Nevertheless, I understand that the Queen continued to discuss the matter with Prince Andrew.

The insider told me Andrew that he had been “quite toxic, mean, unhelpful and very nasty about Camilla.”

Andrew apparently believed that she was insufficiently aristocratic and could not be trusted.

However, if he had often seemed convincing with the Queen, it didn’t work this time.

The result, I’m told, was that Andrew “remained so hostile to Camilla’s acceptance that it’s doubtful it was ever forgiven.”

• Angela Levin’s updated biography, Camilla, From Outcast to Queen Consort, is published by Simon and Schuster for £20.00. Click to order a copy here.