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Prince Andrew has lost his rumoured £1 million annual allowance after the King officially cut him off financially, it has been claimed.
In recent weeks Charles is said to have instructed the Keeper of the Privy Purse, his finance director, to end the Duke of York’s annual personal allowance.
The King also no longer pays for his seven-figure private security detail or for the upkeep of his 30-room Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor, it is understood.
‘The duke is no longer a financial burden on the King,’ a source told the Daily Mail.
The reported move, made in royal writer Robert Hardman’s book Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, makes good on the late Queen’s alleged desire to solve the ‘Andrew issue‘ once and for all.
Andrew – long touted as Queen Elizabeth II’s ‘favourite son’ – stepped back as a frontline royal in 2019 after a disastrous Newsnight interview which delved into his relationship with dead paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
On top of this, he was dogged for many years by claims that he had sex with then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre – who was sex trafficked by Epstein – in London in March 2001.
The pair eventually settled out of court in 2022 with Andrew accepting that Ms Giuffre was a victim of abuse. He made no admission of liability and has always denied the allegations.
Sources told Mr Hardman that, had she lived another year, the Queen would have forced Andrew to downsize to Frogmore Cottage, the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
It sits within Windsor Castle security ‘ring of steel’ and would provide room for the Duke and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson – who he lives with.
This would allow the Duke to be protected while not being a burden on the Royal purse.
Despite the suggestion, Andrew is reportedly unwilling to leave the lodge.
Sources close to the Duke have long argued that he has a cast-iron lease on the late Queen Mother’s former home which runs until 2078 and can remain there until then.
And after being stripped of his patronages, military associations and effectively barred from using his HRH title in public, the Duke is reportedly determined to cling onto his home.
But it will come at a considerable cost and there are questions over whether Andrew can self-finance the upkeep of the 19th Century listed building.
He would also have to pay to protect several valuable and historical works of art and pieces of furniture borrowed from the Royal Collection that it houses.
Dubbed the “Siege of Royal Lodge”, Andrew has reportedly insisted he has ‘other sources of income‘ related to his contacts in international trade, sufficient to cover all his costs.
‘If he can find the money, then that is up to him, but if not, he will find that the King does not have unlimited patience,’ an insider told the Mail.
Family friends claimed that Andrew’s ‘obstinacy’ over the latest development has ‘soured’ family relationships.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Clarence House for comment.
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