Shamed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ‘makes first secret go to to his new Sandringham dwelling in exile’
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor reportedly made a first secret visit to his new Sandringham home, where he will live out his exile.
The former Duke is expected to move into Marsh Farm on the King’s Norfolk estate by Easter after a short spell in a temporary property, with removal vans working to clear him out of Royal Lodge imminently.
A team of workers have been doing up the empty farm in anticipation of his arrival, installing a large new privacy fence around the perimeter and setting up Sky TV.
Insiders have said Marsh Farm needed a lot of work to ‘make it habitable’.
It is understood Andrew made a recce of the house in Wolferton, just two miles from the King’s Sandringham House, earlier this week.
A friend told The Sun: ‘It was the first time he’s seen his new house and he is resigned to the fact that this is his future.
‘He’s come to the conclusion that he has to get on with the rest of his life and accepts he has to make the best of it.’
It is believed the disgraced Royal will hand back the keys to his Windsor mansion before his 66th birthday on February 19 – but could be gone by the end of the month.
Andrew reportedly visited Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate earlier this week, where he will live out his exile
The house in just two miles from the King’s Sandringham House residence
A solid six-foot high wooden fence has sprung up around parts of the Marsh Farm perimeter
A removal lorry leaves Andrew’s Royal Lodge in Windsor in the heavy rain last week
Andrew is expected to leave Royal Lodge imminently for a temporary property on the Sandringham estate and then move permanently to Marsh Farm
Large white removal lorries have been coming and going from Royal Lodge, where Andrew still rolls around in Range Rovers and takes solemn horse rides.
It is understood that he will initially move into a smaller property on the Sandringham estate while work on Marsh Farm is completed, but should take up permanent residence there by Easter.
A six-foot wooden privacy fence has sprung up around the farm, which is a stone’s throw from a public road, to replace the former wire mesh.
Workmen have been seen using a JCB in the garden and installing security lights to make the place fit for a former prince.
A drone ban over Sandringham was extended last autumn to cover Andrew’s new patch.
The farm lies in the secluded village of Wolferton, which has a church and a social club but no pubs or village shops.
It is also near the King’s Wood Farm estate, where Prince Philip lived after his retirement.
Andrew reportedly wanted to live at Wood Farm on Sandringham, which is a five-bedroom cottage near the stables and pheasant shooting grounds, but there were concerns that would leave him ‘too close’ to the rest of the family.
Workers have been doing up Marsh Farm in Wolferton in order to make it fit for Andrew
The solid new privacy fence replaces flimsy wire that stood before and allowed a good view from the road
A Sky engineer was spotted up a ladder against the wall of Marsh Farm
A worker carries a heavy fence post across the gravel drive as a new security fence is constructed
A workman measures up for the installation of new security lights on one of the red brick walls
A sign for Wolferton village, near Marsh Farm on the Sandringham estate
It is understood that the farmhouse and the surrounding outhouses have been empty for some time, after the previous tenant died.
Last week, the Mail on Sunday revealed that Princess Eugenie has cut off all contact with her father in the wake of the Epstein scandal.
It is understood that Eugenie, 35, is refusing to speak to Andrew and did not visit him at Christmas.
A source told the MoS the rift is like that between the Beckhams: ‘There is no contact at all, nothing. It’s Brooklyn Beckham level – she has completely cut him off.’
Meanwhile, sources say her older sister, Princess Beatrice, is taking a more nuanced approach by trying to remain in contact with her father and maintaining her reputation in the Royal Family.
And earlier this month, the Daily Mail revealed that Royal Lodge was not once inspected by officials in the 22 years he lived there rent-free, despite his lease having strict conditions.
When the lease for the 30-room home was signed in 2003, it included unique terms which included no rent but a costly upfront refurbishment and upkeep schedule.
The disgraced royal paid £8million to repair the then-dilapidated property, and promised to allow inspectors in at ‘all reasonable times’ to make sure he looked after it.
Andrew appeared to be travelling in a Range Rover leaving Royal Lodge last week
A removal van arrives at Royal Lodge in Windsor to clear out the house for Andrew’s departure
Andrew cuts a lonely figure on a drizzly horse ride around Royal Lodge earlier this month
Royal Lodge, the lavish Windsor mansion Andrew still shares with his ex-wife Sarah (file image)
In return, his estate landlord, the independent company which manages Crown properties for the benefit of the taxpayer, allowed him to pay no rent for the duration of the 75-year lease.
But not one Crown Estate official carried out an inspection of Royal Lodge in the whole time Andrew lived there – raising concerns of a ‘sweetheart deal’ at taxpayers’ expense.
Andrew has still been living there with his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, while work is completed ahead of their move.
The King’s brother was finally banished from the Royal Family last year.
Andrew had been embroiled in controversy for years over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and allegations, which he denies, that he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre when she a teenager after she was trafficked by Epstein.
Ms Giuffre’s death by suicide in April, her posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl and the release of documents and emails relating to Epstein intensified the focus on the late Queen’s second son.
It emerged he emailed Epstein telling him ‘we are in this together’ in 2011, three months after he claimed he had broken off all contact with the sex offender.
Andrew stepped away from his public role in 2019 and later paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre, whom Andrew claimed never to have met despite being pictured with his arm around her at now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell’s home in London.
In 2022, his mother Queen Elizabeth II ordered him to stop using his HRH style and removed his honorary military roles.
Andrew agreed to no longer use his Duke of York title last October, but the King went a step further a fortnight later and dramatically stripped him of both his right to be a prince and his dukedom, making Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor a commoner for the first time.
Just before Christmas, newly-surfaced emails from the Epstein files revealed one sent from Balmoral and signed ‘A’ asking Maxwell ‘have you found me some new inappropriate friends?’.
Andrew has faced calls from a powerful US congressional committee to give evidence about Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019.
The loss of Andrew’s titles meant his ex-wife reverted back to her maiden name of Sarah Ferguson, with the former duchess also criticised for writing to Epstein after his conviction calling him a ‘supreme friend’, despite publicly disowning him in the media.
