The late queen planned to end Harry and Meghan’s lease of Frogmore Cottage and replace the couple with Prince Andrew, it has been revealed.
The revelation is included in an updated biography of acclaimed royal writer Robert Hardman, serialized by the Mail. Read the full excerpt here.
According to insiders, if the Queen had lived another year, he would have forced Prince Andrew, Duke of York, to leave his family home – Royal Lodge on Windsor Estate – and downsize to Frogmore Cottage.
“If she had lived another year, he would have been out,” says a former adviser to Elizabeth II firmly.
‘Her plan was to move him out, end the Sussexes’ lease at Frogmore Cottage and move Andrew there. It was mainly a money issue, because she saw that it was becoming unsustainable.’
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visit Abel Tasman National Park. The Queen reportedly could have driven them from the Cottage if she had lived another year
Prince Andrew is said to have downsized to Frogmore Cottage, the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the Endurance event on Day 3 of the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Windsor Great Park
An updated biography of acclaimed royal writer Robert Hardman, published in the Mail, reveals Charles has acted decisively
An updated edition of Hardman’s best-selling biography, Charles III: New King. New Court. Published earlier this year, The Inside Story is now released in hardback with additional material and three new chapters packed with fascinating details.
As exclusively revealed by The Mail in the first extract from the book, Prince Andrew has been officially cut off financially by the King, marking a new low in relations between the brothers. Despite the Duke of York’s attempts to bluff the monarch, Charles acted decisively.
In recent weeks he has ordered his Keeper of the Privy Purse, the monarchy’s chief financial officer, to abolish his beleaguered younger brother’s annual personal allowance – believed to be around £1 million a year – and to stop paying for his seven-figure stipend. private security detail.
“The duke is no longer a financial burden on the king,” a source confirmed.
The new revelations also include how Prince Harry’s determination to take dogged legal action against the Home Office over its decision to withdraw his 24-hour security when he stepped down from royal duties drove a wedge between father and son .
The king fears that if he mends his relationship with Harry, he could be implicated in the case, putting him in ‘legal jeopardy’.
Royal insiders have also hit back at suggestions they failed to help Meghan when she joined the royal family, saying she threw their offer in their faces.
They insist that, rather than throwing the Duchess to the wolves as she has suggested, they did everything in their power to help her – and it was she who said no.
Sources say the king is not against any form of rapprochement with the Sussexes, despite the barrage of criticism he has received. But it has not been an easy process.
Impeccably placed sources reveal that if she had lived another year, Queen Elizabeth would have forced Andrew to leave his childhood home, Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park
Among the new revelations is how Prince Harry’s determination to take dogged legal action against the Home Office over its decision to withdraw his 24-hour security when he stepped down from royal duties drove a wedge between father and son .
When Harry returned to Britain in May, the two did not meet. The prince was offered a room at Buckingham Palace, but chose to stay in a hotel.
“We were told this was for security reasons,” said a member of the King’s staff. “I’m not sure you can get anywhere safer than the Palace.”
As for Andrew, it can now be revealed that his attempts to play a dangerous game of high-stakes poker above Royal Lodge against his brother have backfired.
Sources close to the Duke of York have long claimed he has an ironclad, long-term lease on the late Queen Mother’s former home in Windsor Great Park.
Although he no longer assumes royal duties, has been stripped of his patronages and military associations and effectively barred from using his HRH title in public due to his association with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the Duke is determined to hold on to the remains of his former office. life, especially his house.
He has made it clear to the King’s advisers that they have no right to force him to make cuts and has firmly rejected the suggestion that he move to nearby Frogmore Cottage, which, although smaller with five bedrooms, appears to be sufficient for his needs and has the added benefit of being in the ‘steel security ring’ of Windsor Castle.
Now that the king has essentially called his brother’s bluff, Andrew will have to find the money to maintain his vast estate, as well as his security staff, without any visible sign of an independent income.
According to Hardman, this apparently includes the cost of protecting several valuable and historic works of art and furniture borrowed from the Royal Collection, the treasury of antiques that the monarch holds on behalf of the nation.
Andrew has repeatedly claimed that he can continue to pay for his own upkeep, claiming to have found ‘other sources of income’ linked to his contacts in international trade, sufficient to cover all his costs. But His Majesty will be watching with interest.
“If he can find the money, that’s his business, but if not, he will find that the king does not have unlimited patience,” adds an insider.
Family friends say that although the case has been temporarily resolved, Andrew’s “stubbornness” has “soured” family relations.
- Adapted from Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story by Robert Hardman, published by Macmillan on November 7.