Prince Andrew dragged out negotiations before banishment for cash: Source

(NewsNation) — King Charles desperately tried to get Prince Andrew to move out of Royal Lodge and disappear from public life altogether, but Andrew continued dragging his feet in hopes of scoring a major pile of cold, hard cash.

Despite the hardball negotiations, Andrew has been banished from the Royal Lodge and his royal titles taken away.

In a statement Thursday, Buckingham Palace confirmed King Charles would strip Andrew of his remaining titles and evict him from his royal residence.

“‘Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence,” the palace said. “Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease, and he will move to alternative private accommodation.”

It is unknown if Andrew received any financial compensation. Andrew was looking for some sort of financial compensation — despite paying “one peppercorn” in rent for the 30-room mansion on the grounds of Windsor Castle — as he has no income or savings.

Prince Andrew was looking for cash to leave Royal Lodge: Source

Allies of Prince Andrew told The Royalist — which is written by my good friend and royal spy, Tom Sykes —  that the only way Prince Andrew would leave Royal Lodge is if he’s paid “fairly,” in the region of “a couple of million,” for the unexpired 50 years remaining on his lease.

An old friend of Andrew’s told The Royalist: “Andrew is quite prepared to leave Royal Lodge if he is treated fairly and compensated for what remains of the lease. His children would have inherited the lease, which was always the understanding, so Andrew will want fair compensation to make things right for them.”

Asked if there was a “number” Andrew had in mind, the source said, “I think a couple of million would go a long way.”

The duke prepaid £8.5 million (approximately $10.9 million) for a 75-year lease on the property, effectively purchasing a lifetime tenancy at the bargain rate of around £113,000 ($145,000) per year. In commercial terms, that is ludicrously cheap: A 30-room mansion on 90 acres in Windsor Great Park could easily exceed £1 million ($1.27 million) a year in rent.

Were he to have surrendered his lease without new terms, Andrew would receive only about £557,000 ($708,000) in compensation. It’s hardly enough to tempt him out of one of Britain’s grandest private homes, when, over the next half-century, he and his heirs stand to enjoy accommodation worth upwards of £50 million ($63 million) on the open market for no further outlay aside from maintenance costs.

Payment could stop Prince Andrew from doing tell-alls like Prince Harry

The payment would also help Andrew not give interviews or write a tell-all like Prince Harry’s embarrassing memoir, “Spare.” 

Charles’ ham-handed handling of the “Andrew Problem” put the ball of power firmly in Prince William’s court — and William was said to be mulling not only stripping Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie of their titles but eventually taking away Harry and Meghan (and their children’s) titles as well. As of Thursday afternoon, Beatirce and Eugenie still hold their titles.

As one insider told me, “If you’re not a working royal, you don’t get a title.”

“Public pressure on Andrew and Sarah has intensified after it emerged they haven’t paid rent for two decades,” Sykes wrote, adding, “However, public anger is rapidly refocusing on the king’s disastrous management of the affair.”

This could give William even more power.

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