For a man who has not had a conventional job since he left the Royal Navy more than 20 years ago, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has still been able to call a remarkable string of luxury properties home.
But the accident-prone royal — formerly known as Prince Andrew, the Duke of York — has attracted plenty of controversy during his journey up the property ladder.
Disputes over payments, allegations of preferential treatment, and legal battles over money have plagued both Mountbatten Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson since the 1990s.
The couple married in1986 and their first home was Sunninghill Park, a bespoke country house set in about 665 acres, close to Windsor Great Park in Berkshire — a wedding gift from his devoted mother.
Although undoubtedly generous, the 12-bedroom property did not impress all observers, and the property was rapidly nicknamed SouthYork in homage to the blingy Southfork estate featured in the TV soap Dallas. Others likened it to a suburban supermarket.
The former Duke and Duchess divorced in 1996 but continued to cohabit at SouthYork for several years.
It was during this time that Mountbatten Windsor was accused of having sex with the then 17-year-old Virginia Guiffre, who had been trafficked by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
He counter-claimed that on the night in question (10 March 2001) he was in fact with Princess Beatrice at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking.
Following the death of the Queen Mother in 2002 it was announced that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was to move to her former home, Royal Lodge, taking a mortgage out on Sunninghill Park to pay for its refurbishment.
After several years on the market Sunninghill Park finally sold in 2008 for £15 million — £3 million more than its £12 million asking price.
The purchaser was later identified as Timur Kulibayev, the billionaire son-in-law of the Kazakh president, Nazarbayev. The president was himself an acquaintance of the then prince who had hosted him on goose hunting trips.
Oddly, having paid so handsomely for the property, Kulibayev then abandoned it. By 2009 it had fallen into a state of disrepair, its gardens choked with weeds, broken windows left unmended, and peeling paintwork.
In 2013 planning permission was granted to demolish it and replace it with a larger and more modern home.
A spokesman for Mr Kulibayev said: “The purchase of Sunninghill Park was a commercial, arm’s length transaction. The property was purchased as part of a competitive bidding process, during which there was another potential buyer, and as a result the final asking price was increased and agreed.”
Meanwhile, in 2014 Mountbatten Windsor and Ferguson decided to treat themselves to a ski chalet in upscale Verbier, Switzerland.
They bought Chalet Helora from a former friend, French socialite Isabelle de Rouvre for £18m. However a dispute quickly erupted over non-payment of £5 million of the cost of the property, and de Rouvre had to launch legal proceedings to recoup what she was owed, plus interest.
In 2020 the seven-bedroom chalet in Verbier was put on sale; by then the prince required funds to fight the sexual abuse civil case brought against him by Virginia Guiffre. It took two years to find a buyer — a British family who paid £19 million for the property.
Back in the UK, Mountbatten Windsor moved to Royal Lodge in 2004. The fairytale Grade II-listed house was built in the 19th century, and its former residents include two future kings (George V and George VI), and the Queen Mother, who lived there for 50 years.
The estate also includes a chapel lodge, six cottages, and a gardener's cottage, plus police security accommodation.
The gardens house a swimming pool, golf driving range, and tennis courts. But its most unusual feature is a miniature thatched cottage, Y Bwthyn Bach (The Little Cottage), which was gifted to the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret by the people of Wales.
According to the National Audit Office the house was leased to Mountbatten Windsor, then Duke of York, for 75 years on the understanding he would fund a £7.5 million renovation programme, pay a £1 million premium to the Crown Estate, which owns the property, as well as an unspecified peppercorn rent which could be as little as £1 per year.
The arrangement is now under scrutiny, amid claims it was overly-generous, and until now the cast-iron lease has made it difficult to forcibly eject the former prince from the 30-room house he shares with his ex-wife.
On October 30, Buckingham Palace officials announced that Mountbatten Windsor will soon leave the property. It’s thought that he will move to a property on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk in the new year, to be privately funded by the King, while Ferguson will organise her own living arrangements.
The King ended his financial support for his brother last year — he previously received a £1 million annual allowance — which cast doubt on Mountbatten Windsor’s ability to fund upkeep of Royal Lodge. His security alone costs around £3 million per year.
The royal family is known to be keen for him to downsize to a more modest home – Frogmore Cottage, formerly home to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is one suggestion.
Conservative MP Robert Jenrick said that it was "about time Prince Andrew took himself off to live in private" as "the public are sick of him".
When the beleaguered former prince moves on it’s expected he will leave with a golden handshake — his lease allows him to reclaim an estimated £558,000 of the money paid upfront for the house.
