Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has left his Windsor home. King Charles’ brother is now staying on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, according to the BBC.
Queen Elizabeth II’s second son left Royal Lodge on Monday night, according to the publication. He has moved into a temporary property on the estate itself for now. His new permanent home is under renovation at the moment.
King Charles privately owns the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. The monarch will cover the costs of his brother’s new accommodation.
Royal sources told the BBC in October that Andrew would move to his new home only after Christmas to avoid awkwardness. Sandringham is where the Royal Family traditionally gathers during the festive season.
Sandringham was bought in 1862 as a private retreat. The estate covers about 31 square miles, roughly the size of Nottingham. An Indian equivalent could be Surat (Gujarat), Cuttack (Odisha) or Dadri (Uttar Pradesh).
In October, Buckingham Palace confirmed his departure from Royal Lodge. It was around the same time his title of prince was formally removed.
The Palace served a formal notice for Andrew to surrender the lease of Royal Lodge. The announcement followed weeks of public debate over the rent paid to the Crown Estate, the property’s owner.
According to a National Audit Office report, when Andrew took on the lease in 2003, he agreed to pay more than £8 million ( ₹99 crore at the current rate) upfront. This covered major repairs.
It effectively removed the need to pay rent for the full 75-year lease. The agreement was based on a notional annual rent of £260,000 ( ₹3.2 crore).
Under the terms, if the lease had ended early, he could have been entitled to £488,000 ( ₹6 crore) in compensation. However, a later report from the Crown Estate said the property required extensive repairs. So, it is considered unlikely that any compensation will be paid, the BBC reported.
According to the BBC, Andrew will eventually settle at Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate. He plans to return briefly to Windsor in the coming weeks to collect his remaining belongings. His permanent base, nevertheless, is now in Norfolk.
Andrew was last seen in Windsor on 3 February, riding a horse near his former home. He later drove away from Windsor Castle, where he waved at members of the public.
Epstein Files
Andrew’s past association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has been under the radar. The controversy grew further in January 2026, when the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released thousands of photos, videos and files.
Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing. However, pressure has increased on him over the Epstein Files.
Newly-released files include three undated photographs that appear to show Andrew crouching on all fours over a woman lying on the floor. In one image, he seems to be touching her abdomen.
LiveMint could not independently verify the images.
Emails from September 2010 also surfaced. Andrew allegedly invited Epstein to Buckingham Palace for a private dinner. This contradicts his earlier claim that he cut contact with Epstein soon after the financier’s first conviction in 2008.
Virginia Giuffre, earlier Virginia Roberts, alleged that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell had sex-trafficked her as a minor. Between 2001 and 2002, she was allegedly forced to have sexual encounters with Andrew three times.
In February 2022, Andrew reached an unofficial settlement with Giuffre. Multiple reports suggest the settlement amount is estimated at $12 million ( ₹108 crores). However, the controversy erupted again after Giuffre’s death by suicide in April 2025.
A second woman has also alleged that she had been trafficked to the UK by Epstein in 2010 for a sexual encounter with Andrew at Royal Lodge. The woman was in her 20s at the time.
Pressure is growing on Andrew to testify in the US. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US lawmakers have urged him to cooperate.
“Anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that,” Sky News quoted PM Starmer as saying.
“You can’t be victim-centred if you’re not prepared to do that. Epstein’s victims have to be the first priority,” he added.
