Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been living in exile for two months since he was evicted from his Windsor property, Royal Lodge, on the orders of King Charles.
Members of the royal family had publicly maintained their distance from the disgraced ex-prince, but in a surprising turn of events, Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie were the first to approach Andrew.
The former Duke of York has lived at Sandringham since it was a private estate owned by Charles, to avoid any further uproar from taxpayers. Before he officially moved into Marsh Farm, Sophie and Edward visited his temporary accommodation, Wood Farm, to do a ‘welfare check’.
It was previously reported that there had been grievances as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh had been forced to stay in the main house as Andrew occupied Wood Farm – the holiday rental for members of the royal family at Easter and other key events.
However, royal sources have denied Daily Mail that there was tension between Edward and Andrew over housing.
Duchess Sophie and Prince Edward reportedly had dinner with Andrew one evening and chatted. They “feel sorry” for him and how things turned out for him. Additionally, they expressed concerns about Andrew’s “fragile state of mind” due to recent events.
“They feel for him, but of course that doesn’t excuse his behavior,” the source stressed. “It’s a difficult balancing act to do to support him without condoning what he got involved in.”
Edward tried to make sense of it and pointed out that Andrew could never return to the royal fold. Only time will tell if Andrew has understood everything that has been briefed to him or if he remains deluded.
