bitchy | Sarah Ferguson & Andrew M-W won’t have to leave Royal Lodge for ‘months’

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was not the only one severely damaged by the recent disclosures of Jeffrey Epstein’s emails. Sarah Ferguson saw her whole world collapse after her emails to Epstein were revealed, and she was exposed for begging for millions of dollars from Epstein over the years. Charities dropped her as patron, her book discount seemingly dried up, daytime talk shows no longer want her, and her “allies” have been laying it on thick about how Sarah “has nowhere to go and no one to go with.” And today this: the discount struck between Andrew and King Charles did not involve Sarah whatsoever. Andrew is being moved to an undisclosed location on the Sandringham estate (not Wood Farm), and Sarah is simply being evicted from Royal Lodge, with no plans as to where she will go next. The palace openly briefed the press about how Sarah is being left to fend for herself.

In another brutally dismissive remark, sources said that Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, with whom he still lives, ‘will make her own arrangements’ when it comes to her future.

While she could live with Andrew in Norfolk it is understood that she intends to, finally, live separately from him, almost 30 years after they divorced.

[From The Daily Mail]

The Sun got the same briefing: “Sarah Ferguson will be forced to find her own place after she and Prince Andrew were told to leave their long-time home at Royal Lodge.” People Magazine’s sources said Fergie “is making her own living arrangements” and “it is not known” if she will join Andrew at his new Sandringham home. Speaking of, it looks like Andrew and Sarah won’t actually have to leave Royal Lodge for a few months. From the Telegraph:

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor will move to his new home on the Sandringham estate early in the New Year, the Telegraph can reveal. The former Duke of York has already surrendered the lease on Royal Lodge in Windsor, but the relocation process will be “protracted”, sources said.

The delay will ensure that the Royal family avoids a potentially awkward encounter during their traditional Christmas get-together at Sandringham. Rather than being just a stone’s throw away, alone in his new cottage, Andrew and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, will likely be some 130 miles away in Windsor.

The former Prince is understood to be “sanguine” about the dramatic change in his circumstances. Those closest to him noted he had been dealing with the gradual “slicing” away of his life for some 15 years and that, as such, it was a relief to finally be a private citizen. He has lived under “effective house arrest” at Royal Lodge for several years, it is claimed. But today, a line has been drawn, and there is a degree of finality in the decision. He will get to start a new life and is no longer “palace property”, it is said.

The key sticking point in negotiations was the choice of a new home for Andrew, the Telegraph understands. His closest advisors insisted there was no way he could relocate to another property on the Crown Estate. Frogmore Cottage, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s former home on the Windsor estate, had long been mooted as the best option. The King had been trying to force his brother to move to the relatively modest property, which was fully renovated by Harry and Meghan just a few years ago, since early last year. But the house would have proved just as problematic as Royal Lodge, Andrew’s team warned, asking: “How is that any different?”

In fact, some argued it would have been worse as Andrew had not paid any money towards Frogmore Cottage, whereas he had put down an up-front payment of more than £8million on Royal Lodge. It was therefore “crucial” that his future living arrangements were “properly private”. The relatively small property that Andrew will move into on the Sandringham estate was approved by Andrew’s advisors as it is privately owned by the King and therefore not subject to the same public, political and media pressure.

While it is a long way from his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and his grandchildren, Andrew feels “no great affection” for Windsor given his experiences there in recent years, it is said.

[From The Telegraph]

I’m sitting here chuckling to myself that Andrew is positioning himself as the person in the negotiations who was like “no, I can’t live in such a nice house on taxpayer dime, are you lit” to the king. It seems the jostling for credit includes Andrew wanting credit for suggesting the move to Sandringham. I also take the lack of buzz/briefings from Fergie’s camp to mean that she’s also getting something, and that’s why she’s keeping quiet. Maybe she’ll move in with Andrew, or maybe she got some kind of financial settlement too (with an NDA) and she’s being forced to make her own way, possibly with her daughters’ help. Anyway, it’s interesting that Andrew and Fergie are basically being given two months to move out of Royal Lodge. Incidentally, why were workmen going in and out of Frogmore in recent weeks if Andrew rejected the Frogmore offer?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.