King Charles ‘must confront Andrew face-to-face’ for him to leave Royal Lodge: Latest

Prince Andrew is reportedly in discussions about leaving Royal Lodge voluntarily following the furore over the “peppercorn” rent for his 30-room mansion.

Obstacles to reaching a settlement are reportedly where Andrew, eighth in line to the throne, will live and what financial recompense he will receive for the funds he spent renovating the home.

There are likely properties on the King’s private Balmoral estate in Scotland and his Sandringham estate in Norfolk that could house Andrew but whether he will accept a smaller home far from his supportive daughters remains to be seen.

Prince Andrew will likely be at the centre of a historic debate in the Commons, as MPs prepare to discuss his future.

In a major break from convention, the Liberal Democrats have ­signalled they intend to use their next Opposition Day to discuss formally removing Andrew’s titles, The Times reported.

Though such a debate will likely not pass legislation, it marks more pressure heading the royal family’s way.

Four out of five Britons want Prince Andrew to be formally stripped of his dukedom, a YouGov poll has suggested.

The survey showed that 63% of nearly 6,700 adults questioned were “strongly” in favour of formal removal of the dukedom and 17% “somewhat” supported the idea, while 6% were opposed to it – 4% somewhat and 2% strongly – and 14% did not know.

As pressure for Prince Andrew to leave the Royal Lodge continues to grow, there have been calls for the King to confront his brother “face to face”.

A source who knows Charles told The Times that the monarch must tell Andrew he “must leave” his 30-bedroom mansion.

As he relinquished his titles last Friday, Andrew stated: “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.”

Referencing this, the source said: “Charles has to say to his face, ‘There’s no choice here, you must now leave Royal Lodge. Whatever the lease says. You say you always put your family and country first. Prove it. This is doing real damage to the monarchy. You’ve got to move.’ I think that would do a lot to assuage public anger.”

Cabinet minister Peter Kyle on Tuesday urged Andrew to cooperate with the US authorities and give evidence about Epstein’s crimes, Amy-Clare Martin writes.

In 2020, a federal investigator accused Andrew of providing “zero cooperation” with the US inquiry into Epstein and his conspirators, despite having promised that he was willing to help when he stood down from public duties in 2019.

This week, business secretary Mr Kyle urged him to stick to his word, telling ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I think anybody that has any information that could bring justice and information to victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes should be fully engaging with any of the authorities that are seeking to deliver that information and justice for the victims.”

He added: “Those victims must be first, and they must be central to how we discuss and debate any of these issues relating to the Jeffrey Epstein … situation, and the crimes he committed. So of course, anybody, anywhere that has information that can deliver that justice should be sharing it openly.

“I believe that Andrew, in the past, has said that he would cooperate, and I urge him to stick to his word on that.”

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick agreed that Andrew should give evidence to the US authorities “about what he knew and what his involvement was” in the scandal.

The Met Police have confirmed they are “actively looking” into fresh allegations that Andrew tried to use his police bodyguard to smear his accuser, Amy-Clare Martin writes.

The Mail on Sunday claims to have seen leaked emails from 2011 in which Andrew said he had handed over Giuffre’s confidential social security number (SSN) and date of birth to his taxpayer-funded Met Police protection officer, apparently in a bid to dig up dirt on her.

Andrew reportedly wrote in an email to Ed Perkins, Queen Elizabeth’s deputy press secretary: “It would also seem she has a criminal record in the [United] States. I have given her DoB [date of birth] and social security number for investigation with XXX, the on duty ppo [personal protection officer].”

The Met’s former head of royal protection, Dai Davies, has urged the force to question the royal under caution if there is evidence that he abetted a police officer to commit the criminal offence of misconduct in public office.

“It is time for Scotland Yard to launch a full criminal investigation into Prince Andrew,” he told the Mail.

“Asking a police officer to investigate an alleged victim is outside of their duties, whether that is calling the FBI, your mates in the US, or searching out themselves to find out whether someone has a criminal offence. That is, in my view, a criminal offence.”

Prince Andrew has lived at the 30-room Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor Great Park for more than 20 years.

A copy of the leasehold agreement, shared by the Crown Estate shows Andrew signed a 75-year lease on the property in 2003.

It reveals he paid £1 million for the lease and that since then he has paid “one peppercorn” of rent “if demanded” per year.

He was also required to pay a further £7.5 million for refurbishments completed in 2005, according to a report by the National Audit Office.

The agreement also contains a clause which states the Crown Estate would have to pay Andrew around £558,000 if he gave up the lease.

The Public Accounts Committee is to write to the Crown Estate and the Treasury to raise “a number of questions” about Andrew’s lease on the property.

Prince Andrew is reportedly in discussions about leaving Royal Lodge voluntarily following the furore over the “peppercorn” rent for his 30-room mansion.

Obstacles to reaching a settlement are reportedly where Andrew, eighth in line to the throne, will live and what financial recompense he will receive for the funds he spent renovating the home.

There are likely properties on the King’s private Balmoral estate in Scotland and his Sandringham estate in Norfolk that could house Andrew but whether he will accept a smaller home far from his supportive daughters remains to be seen.