Kate Middleton and Prince William have briefly moved nearer to disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor forward of his departure from Royal Lodge.
The Telegraph reported on Saturday, November 1, that the Prince and Princess of Wales formally moved in to Forest Lodge in Windsor Nice Park, after making a call to go away their earlier dwelling, Adelaide Cottage, earlier this 12 months. The royals had been initially speculated to settle into Forest Lodge by Christmas, however development was completed sooner than deliberate. (Prince William and Kate are dad and mom to a few kids: Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7.)
The eight-room Georgian mansion boasts much more facilities than their earlier four-room residence, together with six loos, a sunken fence for privateness, a tennis court docket and a big pond.
Royal professional Rebecca English instructed the Daily Mail in August that the couple meant to remain at Forest Lodge on a everlasting foundation, even after William is finally topped as King.
Whereas Prince William and Middleton might have discovered their “ceaselessly dwelling,” the transfer has briefly introduced them nearer to Mountbatten Windsor. Prince William's uncle at present lives solely two miles away at Royal Lodge.
Mountbatten Windsor's residency at Royal Lodge has proved to be vastly controversial within the U.Okay. as his connection to late financier and convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein continues to dominate headlines. Buckingham Palace introduced on Thursday, October 30, that King Charles III was starting the method of eradicating his brother's “type, titles and honors” as the previous Duke of York. (Mountbatten Windsor has denied wrongdoing relating to his connection to Epstein and subsequent claims he sexually assaulted at the least one underage woman, Virginia Giuffre, when she was 17 years outdated in 2001. The previous Duke and Giuffre reached a monetary settlement in 2022.)
As a part of this course of, the Palace confirmed that Mountbatten Windsor would give up the lease of his present dwelling, Royal Lodge, and transfer to a Sandringham property that's privately funded by the King.
“Prince Andrew will now be referred to as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, thus far, supplied him with authorized safety to proceed in residence,” Buckingham Palace spokesperson instructed Us Weekly on Thursday. “Formal discover has now been served to give up the lease and he'll transfer to different personal lodging. These censures are deemed needed, however the truth that he continues to disclaim the allegations towards him.”
Mountbatten Windsor's dwelling scenario had been seen as a lingering drawback for the royal household since he secured a really favorable lease for Royal Lodge in 2003. As a part of this settlement, Mountbatten Windsor paid £1 million for the 75-year lease, plus agreed to contribute £7.5 million for refurbishments that had been accomplished in 2005 and a further $2.5 million for a hire buyout. (Mountbatten Windsor by no means outright owned the property, as Royal Lodge is managed by the royal household's actual property overseers, the Crown Property.)
The settlement was known as a “peppercorn lease” as a result of it successfully meant that Mountbatten Windsor would solely should pay a nominal sum — or nothing in any respect — in hire after his preliminary upfront price. London's The Times reported in October 2025 that Mountbatten Windsor had certainly lived at Royal Lodge with out paying vital hire for 22 years.
Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales in October 2025. Chris Jackson/Getty Pictures
There isn't a official timeline but for Mountbatten Windsor to maneuver out of Royal Lodge. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, has additionally lived at Royal Lodge since 2008, regardless of her divorce from Mountbatten Windsor 12 years earlier. She's going to now have to search out new lodging as properly.
In the meantime, Us realized that Prince William absolutely supported King Charles' determination to take punitive motion towards Mountbatten Windsor. There have been longstanding reviews of friction between the prince and his uncle, with William favoring robust motion to be taken over Mountbatten Windsor's friendship with Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. (Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking charges in June 2022 and sentenced to serve 240 months in federal jail. Epstein died by suicide at age 66 in 2019 following his arrest on federal intercourse trafficking fees.)
When you or somebody you recognize is a human trafficking sufferer, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
