The disgraced former Prince looks set to move into Marsh Farm following his exile to Norfolk- but he’s holding on to some of the grand trappings of his former life
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor appears to be on the move. The disgraced younger brother of the King seems to be preparing to finally settle into his new home, Marsh Farm.
Andrew has been living in Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate ever since his eviction from Royal Lodge. He has been waiting for renovations to be carried out at his future property, including the installation of a tall security fence, landscaping, new carpets and a Sky TV dish. And on Tuesday, three large removal vans were pictured pulling up outside Marsh Farm.
The vehicles were all from Gander & White, which specialises in transporting fine art and has a royal warrant. The company offers a specialist service that includes packing, transporting and installing fine art pieces for their clients – from art dealers and auction houses to private collectors and museums.
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It’s not absolutely clear what the vans were transporting – but several valuable pieces from the Royal Collection Trust were known to previously be on display in Andrew’s former 30-room home in Windsor. Some were part of the Royal Family’s private collection and there were also pieces bought by the former prince’s grandmother, the Queen Mother, who lived at Royal Lodge before him.
However, other pieces were held by the Royal Collection Trust, which manages the Royal Collection – a selection of artefacts and paintings curated by monarchs throughout the centuries. Pieces from the Royal Collection Trust are spread across royal exhibitions, as well as being used to furnish royal residences.
According to the Times, these pieces in Royal Lodge were to be returned to the Trust after Andrew was stripped of his titles. Pieces understood to have adorned the walls of his previous home included a 19th century oil painting called Eugenie, Empress of the French and wife of Napoleon III, by Charles Édouard Boutibonne.
Nevertheless, it seems Andrew made the decision to transport plenty of artwork to Marsh Farm with him. It won’t come as a huge surprise to those who know Andrew, who has been described as having an extraordinary level of entitlement.
Over the years there have been countless stories about the disgraced royal’s behaviour behind closed doors, with anecdotes about his alleged rudeness and his acute lack of self awareness. Much of his reported churlishness has been apparent in recent months.
Andrew is said to have been appalled that ‘poky’ Marsh Farm only has five bedrooms; in contrast, Royal Lodge has seven bedrooms within the main 30-room mansion. “He really didn’t want Marsh Farm,” an insider told the Mail. “He won’t have lived anywhere that small since he left his apartment at Buckingham Palace.”
As a result, packing up Royal Lodge – a task left largely to his staff after his emergency eviction – would have been a momentous task. Andrew, along with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, lived there for two decades, and had accumulated a great deal of possessions. Furthermore, Sarah’s love of spending meant that in the weeks prior to their eviction, a huge number of often unopened Amazon deliveries had been left to pile up, adding to the complexities of downsizing.
Andrew’s most prized possessions had already been packed up ahead of the move – his famously extensive teddy bear collection. According to Charlotte Briggs, a former staff member, the disgraced royal had 72 in total, which had to be lined up in size order, and arranged precisely on his bed.
She told the Sun: “As soon as I got the job, I was told about the teddies, and it was drilled into me how he wanted them. I even had a day’s training. Everything had to be just right. It was so peculiar.”
The stuffed animals have now been safely stowed away – bar one. Andrew is said to have retained a cuddly monkey. The remainder are believed to have been stored in a south London warehouse, where the majority of his possessions are being housed, protected by 24 hour guards.
Andrew is also said to be unhappy about his lack of staff – despite the fact he won’t have the space, nor presumably, the means to afford them. It’s been said that his brother the King has offered him a Sandringham cleaner, groundsman and cook on an ad hoc basis – but that “hasn’t gone down well”.
In reality, Andrew might have struggled to recruit staff anyway given reports that he frequently flies off the handle and has made bizarre requests of royal employees.
As the second – and apparent favourite – son of the late Queen, Andrew developed a penchant for the finer things in life, and has clearly enjoyed the very many privileges and status afforded to him by his birth. Indeed, he is said to be in denial about his new non-royal reality.
He reportedly continued to require staff at his Royal Lodge home to address him as “Your Royal Highness” (HRH) and demanded bows or curtsies – despite having lost his royal titles. Rob Shuter’s #ShuterScoop reported at the time that actually “nothing has changed inside Royal Lodge.” A household insider said: “The butler still says Your Royal Highness, and the staff still bow. Andrew’s made it clear — palace rules don’t apply inside his walls. He insists it’s his birthright — not something the King can erase.”
It echoes comments in Andrew Lownie’s book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, in which he revealed that royal staff were instructed to bow for Andrew anytime he entered a room. When anyone forgot, he would allegedly say, “Let’s try that again,” before leaving the room only to walk back in.
According to Lownie, Andrew’s attitude was that his staff were “there to serve and not to question his actions”. He is alleged to have made bizarre requests of royal employees , and would reportedly ‘scream and shout’ if they were not followed through.
Lownie also spoke to one of the Queen Mother ‘s former equerries , Colin Burgess, who recalled, “I saw Andrew about once a month, when he came to visit Clarence House, and he would talk to the staff, including me, as an officer talks to his subordinates. He would say things such as: ‘I want this done and I want it done now,’ or ‘Have that done by such and such a time.’ I remember him always saying ‘Do it!’ which was his catchphrase of sorts.”
This was in stark contrast to how the equerry was treated by the Queen Mother or King Charles , who saw staff as “human beings”, he said. Lowrie further alleged that Andrew insisted maids in his home climb four floors of stairs just to open his curtains for him in the morning – whilst he lay right beside them.
A source claimed: “His bedtime habits as a single man left a lot to be desired, and a collection of scrunched-up, soiled tissues usually lay scattered around the bed each morning for staff to collect after they had made his bed.” On one further occasion, Andrew is said to have brought a television technical worker to his royal home in the middle of the night, insisting the technician explain how the remote worked.
Andrew also allegedly once banished a staffer because he “couldn’t bear” to look at a mole in his face, and also arranged to remove a member of his staff because he was wearing a nylon tie, according to royal expert Tom Quinn.
Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants details accounts from royal servants over the years.Several former staffers recounted that Andrew had insisted on removing the member of staff due to disliking a mole on the man’s face, as they described the royal as “bossy” who and tended to “act like a classic school bully”.
One of his servants recalled: “Andrew always behaved as if he was frustrated about not being the first-born and therefore destined to become king. This frustration made him a bit of a bully in private, I think. If he liked a member of his staff, he could be very loyal and supportive, but he couldn’t resist being imperious and bossy and bad-tempered if anything went wrong or wasn’t done exactly to his liking.”
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