Andrew’s move to Sandringham will not happen until after Christmas

The King’s disgraced brother Andrew will not move from his Windsor mansion to Sandringham until after Christmas, because of the lengthy process of giving up his home.

Charles stripped his younger sibling of his Prince and Duke of York titles after the continued public outcry over his connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and sexual assault claims, and Andrew, who denies the allegations, has agreed to move out of his 30-room home.

Sandringham in Norfolk is the venue for the traditional Christmas gathering for members of the royal family and the delay will mean any potential encounter with Andrew over the festive period is avoided.

After the King’s dramatic decision to take action against his brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the disgraced former duke is said to be “sanguine” about events, according to the Telegraph newspaper.

Andrew was accused by Virginia Giuffre of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager and claims she was trafficked by Epstein to have sex with the royal. Andrew has strenuously denied the allegations.

When interviewed on Sky News, her brother Sky Roberts called for Andrew to be “investigated” and said about the King’s decision to remove his titles: “But it’s still, it’s not enough in the sense that he’s still walking around a free man.

“I mean, let’s not be naive, that he’s not going to be living on the side of the road here, he’s still in a very, let’s say, cushy spot… He should be investigated, let’s put it that way.”

He also called on the King to tell US President Donald Trump to “put your big boy pants on” and release the Epstein files.

A new YouGov poll has found that while 79% of people questioned backed the King’s decision to strip Andrew of his titles, 58% of the 4,739 adults quizzed on Friday felt the royal family had moved too slowly in dealing with the controversy.

It appears the royal family is distancing itself from Andrew and attempting to limit any brand damage to the monarchy if future revelations involving him come to light.

There has also been a series of damaging newspaper allegations including that Andrew tried to get the Metropolitan Police to dig up dirt for a smear campaign against Ms Giuffre.

The force said previously it is looking into the allegations after the Mail on Sunday claimed Andrew passed Ms Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011 and asked him to investigate.

The Public Accounts Committee has already confirmed it is writing to the Crown Estate, effectively Andrew’s landlord, and the Treasury asking for further information about the prince’s lease which caused a public outcry when it emerged he was paying a “peppercorn” rent.

Charles’s actions are already bearing fruit as Andrew’s name has been struck from the official roll of the peerage which means his Duke of York title will no longer be used officially.

In the next few days the King is expected to send to the Lord Chancellor David Lammy the royal warrant, affecting the dukedom, and letters patent which will formally remove Andrew’s entitlement to use the title prince and HRH style.

Andrew stepped down from public duties in 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with Epstein and as a non-working royal does not serve as a counsellor of state, who can deputise for the monarch if he is overseas on an official trip or ill.

He remains eighth in line to the throne but in the highly unlikely scenario Andrew was on the verge of becoming monarch it is likely public pressure would intervene.

But there have been calls to bring in legislation to stop any chance, however remote, of him becoming King.

Downing Street said there were no plans for legislative changes, when asked about potentially making it easier to strip peerages in the future or remove Andrew from the line of succession.

“From the Government’s perspective, there are no plans to make legislative changes,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman said.

He added: “The Government is focused on using parliamentary time to improve the lives of working people.”

Andrew will move to an undisclosed property on the King’s Sandringham estate, with the accommodation privately funded by the King, who will also make private financial provisions for his brother.

The former duke had a “cast-iron” lease for his Royal Lodge home and only after negotiations with the King’s representatives did he agree to serve formal notice on Thursday to surrender the lease, which had more than 50 years left to run.

But the process around surrendering the lease and other formalities has some similarities with buying a property, which can be drawn out, although it is understood things are moving as quickly as practicable.

It has been reported Andrew will not be moving to Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, the property favoured by the late Queen and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh who preferred its cosy surroundings to the main Sandringham House.

But there are a number other properties available, ranging from Park House, the birthplace and childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales, to York Cottage, where King George V lived before becoming monarch.

Sarah Ferguson lived with her ex-husband Andrew at Royal Lodge but will not be housed by Charles and will have to find a new home.