IF IT weren’t for the fact he was so dreadful it would almost be tragic – a lonely former prince taking solo rides in the bleak mid-winter on the back of one of the few creatures who can still bear to be near him: his horse.
And the animal, of course, knows no better. If it did, it too might not want anything to do with him – this disgraced and blinkered man who has heaped so much shame on his family even his daughters want little to do with him anymore.
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But saddle up his steed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor does with regularity, taking it for long outings across Windsor Great Park – although these frigid fields won’t be his stamping ground for much longer.
In a matter of weeks, the 65-year-old brother of King Charles will be leaving Royal Lodge for a temporary abode on the grounds of the monarch’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
He’ll stay there until renovation work on his new home, Marsh Farm, also on the estate, is completed, thought to be around Easter.
And yet, after all the public humilia-tion and stripping of every title and honour he held so dear, Andrew remains Andrew.
This much was clear recently when he was pictured with an aide going to visit his horses and he pulled up his Range Rover – which no longer brandishes the DOY (Duke of York) number plates – alongside two women walking their dogs in the rain.
Andrew joked merrily with the women before moving on, cackling away behind the wheel.
The interaction spoke volumes. Andrew, after everything that’s happened, is still the same old Andrew – boorish, entitled, unapologetic.
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Yet his comeuppance is impending. The vast 30-room mansion he clung to so doggedly is his no more, and home will soon be a far humbler seven-room face-brick farmhouse.
“The move is being seen as both punishment and protection and marks the clearest effort yet by Charles to shield the monarchy from further damage,” a royal insider says.
“It draws the line under a tarnished chapter in royal history.”
A removal van was recently seen pulling into the long drive of Royal Lodge in what is bound to be one of many trips to rid the house of Andrew’s belongings.
Meanwhile, builders have been working around the clock to make Marsh Farm liveable, putting in new water and electrical systems as well as a 1,8m perimeter fence, CCTV and a Sky satellite dish.
Marsh Farm, Andrew’s new home situated on Charles’ Sandringham Estate.
PHOTO: Gallo Images/Alamy
The house is in a sorry state after lying empty for years since its former tenant, a farmer, died and locals have described it as “ramshackle” and “needing serious work”.
“The snow or rain hasn’t delayed the work on Marsh Farm, but it still needs a lot of attention to make it habitable,” a source says. “But one thing is for sure: it’s a lot, lot smaller and less luxurious than Royal Lodge.”
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Andrew reportedly expressed a wish to move to Wood Farm, which is also on Sandringham Estate and the home his father, Prince Philip, moved to after his retirement.
The dwelling, which has five bedrooms and two reception rooms, is close to the stables and pheasant shooting grounds that appealed to Andrew. But it was not to be.
“There were concerns Andrew would be too close to the rest of the royal family,” the royal insider says. “So that idea was squashed.”
As expected, Sarah Ferguson won’t be moving in with her ex-husband and Andrew will have to comfort himself with occasional visits from his daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, and their young families.
Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were last seen in public at the funeral of the Duchess of Kent last year.
PHOTO: Gallo Images/Getty Images
Although how often they’ll visit their father remains to be seen. The princesses, who have long been supportive of their dad, have distanced themselves from him – and Eugenie has reportedly gone the radical route and cut all contact with her father.
She’s said to be refusing to speak to Andrew and didn’t visit him at Christmas.
Eugenie, who established The Anti-Slavery Collective to fight against modern slavery and sex trafficking, is “taking a dim view of her father’s refusal to apologise to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein”, the Daily Mail reports.
“There’s no contact at all – nothing,” a source says.
It’s Brooklyn Beckham level. She has completely cut him off
Royal insider
Beatrice hasn’t been quite as hardcore.
“She’s trying to walk the fine line of not cutting her father off and yet remaining close with the royal family,” the insider says.
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“Beatrice isn’t exactly in close contact with her father at the moment but there are some channels open. But Eugenie isn’t trying to walk that line. She’s not speaking to Andrew.”
The princesses are hyper aware of the sensitivities with the royal family, another source says, and know their father is persona non grata.
Andrew’s ostracisation was clear at Christmas when he was nowhere to be seen as the royals gathered at Sandringham and carried out their annual walk to church on Christmas morning.
Princesses Beatrice (left) and Eugenie were spotted driving to a Christmas lunch last year.
PHOTO: Gallo Images/Getty Images
They were also seen attending the Christmas Day church service with the rest of the royals.
PHOTO: Gallo Images/Getty Images
“With Charles and William focused on restoring royal credibility, the last thing they wanted was the disgraced duke anywhere near the St Mary Magdalene Church service or the Sandringham banquet,” the source says.
Charles did, however, invite Beatrice and Eugenie for the celebration, and royal biographer Robert Jobson says it was the right decision for the sisters to show loyalty to their uncle.
“If you have an invitation from the king, you go. It’s a command, really.”
Andrew is also believed to have encouraged them to attend for his own gain.
“Andrew said to them, ‘You have to go’,” royal writer Ingrid Seward says. “He wants to know what’s going on and what people are saying about him. They’re Andrew’s only passport into the royal family now. I’m absolutely sure he persuaded them.”
It’s unlikely he would’ve got any information out of Eugenie and his tenuous ties to Beatrice are seen as his last hope.
Ahead of the Christmas celebrations, the York family reunited at the christening of Beatrice’s youngest daughter, Athena, at the chapel at St James’ Palace in London.
Andrew and Sarah kept a very low profile, though. They weren’t photographed with Beatrice and they skipped the after-party, which was attended by the likes of singer James Blunt.
“Beatrice did, of course, invite her father to the christening,” an insider says. “Things aren’t warm between them, but she recognises that he dotes on his grandchildren, and it would be cruel to deprive him of the chance to attend the christening.”
Another source says while Beatrice was “determined to keep the focus entirely on her daughter”, there was no escaping the significance of the occasion.
“It was the former Duke and Duchess of York’s first appearance at a royal family event since Andrew was stripped of all his titles and possibly the last time he will ever step foot in St James’ chapel.”
Despite everything, there’s one person who’s fervently trying to inveigle her way back into the king’s favour.
The notoriously pushy Fergie reportedly sent an “overly effusive and almost pleading” missive to Charles and Camilla over Christmas in an attempt to smooth things over.
“Fergie disgraced herself with these cringey messages,” a palace source says. “It seems embarrassingly desperate.”
She’s said to have apologised for the ongoing controversy and “expressed regret for past events involving the House of York”.
Where Fergie will live now remains to be seen. There’s speculation she will move, at least part-time, to the CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club in Melides, Portugal, where Eugenie lives with her husband Jack Brooksbank and their sons August and Ernest.
The family also have a home in the grounds of Kensington Palace, but since 2022 have been spending most of their time in Portugal for Jack’s business interests.
Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, live in a sprawling mansion in the Cotswolds with daughters Sienna and Athena, and Fergie may well spend some time there, at least until she finds her feet.
But royal biographer Andrew Lownie says thick-skinned Fergie shouldn’t be written off. “Her reputation is pretty much at an all-time low but she may well pop back.”
Fergie has this gift for re-inventing herself
Andrew Lownie
Her ex-husband, however, has little hope of anything. Andrew’s time in the Royal Lodge sparked fresh controversy recently when it emerged the property hadn’t been inspected once by Crown Estate officials in the entire 22 years he lived there.
According to the lease, he could stay rent-free on condition he stuck to an upkeep schedule. He did pay for some repairs initially, but failed to continue and this, coupled with the lack of inspections, resulted in the once grand property falling into disrepair.
“There’s little doubt the extraordinary absence of inspections of Royal Lodge will be seen as yet another example of the sweetheart deal between the Crown Estate and Andrew,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams says.
“This revelation is all the more sur-prising when you consider the fact that Andrew has been involved in so many high-profile disasters in recent years, and still no one thought to inspect the condition of the property.
“It will undoubtedly lead to changes in the way leases involving members of the royal family are drawn up by the Crown Estate in the future.”
Yet another lesson The Firm has learnt the hard way.
SOURCES: EXPRESS.CO.UK, MIRROR.CO.UK, DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, MARIECLAIRE.COM, ELLE.COM
