Marie Antoinette had the “Petit Trianon” at Versailles as her go-to escape, Tolstoy had Yasnaya Polyana in the Russian countryside and the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes had the ten-bedroom rustic haven of Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate. At least they did have it. The couple, who fled the courtly environment for Canada in a door-slamming “Megxit” and have since made their home in LA will be required to vacate the property bequeathed after their marriage by the Queen in 2018.
King Charles is cleaning house in more ways than one as his coronation in May beckons. Prince Andrew has, we gather, been offered the residence, as a cut to his royal grant leaves him unable to pay for the upkeep of a larger Crown Estate property. Entanglements with Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell have ended Andrew’s life as a core working royal and the Frogmore address is beginning to look awkwardly like the sheltered housing arrangement for difficult royal relatives.
