Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has reportedly been offered a temporary home at Sandringham to speed up his relocation from the grade II mansion, Royal Lodge, where he has resided for the last two decades.
A more permanent home is being prepared for him on the Norfolk estate, but it is understood the King has offered him a temporary property in the hope he would have left Windsor by Easter.
Other sources told The Times the prospect of an interim home could mean the disgraced former prince would be in more modest accommodation by his 66th birthday on 19 February.
Renovation and construction work are currently underway at Marsh Farm, which is expected to eventually become Andrew’s permanent base once it has been completed. It is understood that its security features require updating, with fences and a CCTV system installed ahead of his arrival.
After it was announced that Andrew would be leaving Royal Lodge last year, a no-fly restriction zone was extended in December to cover Marsh Farm, which had previously been held by a tenant farm and had been empty for years.
While few details have been given about the temporary accommodation being offered to Andrew, The Times reports that options include Wood Farm, where the late Prince Philip spent his final years, and York Cottage.
Removal vans have already been spotted at Royal Lodge, where Andrew has paid a peppercorn rent after signing a 75-year lease in 2003.
He was first advised to leave the 30-room mansion two years ago but refused, with Buckingham Palace confirming in October that he had returned his lease after further revelations emerged that he had continued to email convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein beyond when he had stated in his disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview that he had cut all contact with the paedophile in 2010.
As a result of these emails, the King stripped him of his titles and status and forced him to relocate to the Sandringham estate, with the monarch now due to privately fund his new lifestyle.
A source told The Sun: “The snow or rain hasn’t delayed the work on Marsh Farm but it still needs a lot of attention to make it habitable. But one thing for sure is that it is a lot, lot smaller and less luxurious than Royal Lodge.”
His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who had resided alongside him at Royal Lodge, is now understood to be separately house-hunting.
Neither she nor Andrew was invited to spend Christmas Day with the Royal Family and have remained out of the spotlight, while their two daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, were present at Sandringham over the festive period.
