Prince Andrew will not be attending the Remembrance Sunday ceremonies, as he spends his last days at Royal Lodge, but sources say he is not happy about the decision
The former Prince Andrew, who once stood centre stage on Remembrance Sunday alongside senior royals to solemnly honour fallen war heroes, will be conspicuously absent today (November 9). This comes after he was officially given the boot from the Royal Family after having all his titles taken from him — including the word ‘prince’.
His absence is down to King Charles’ unceremonious removal of his younger brother from the official peerage, stripping him of his titles and styles permanently. As a result, Andrew Mountbatten, formerly a naval officer, will be nursing his wounds at home.
Embattled by scandal, the wayward Royal is reportedly spending his days largely alone at Royal Lodge, playing Call of Duty and “wandering around ranting to himself”. He has just a few days left to enjoy his virtually rent-free, 30-room property before he must pack up his belongings and say goodbye.
After Charles finally convinced his younger brother to leave — Andrew had to agree to move voluntarily due to his “iron-clad” lease — the former prince will be leaving the property in the New Year. He is set to relocate to the expansive Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, although it has not been announced which of the 150 properties on the 20,000-acre estate he will call home, according to the Mirror.
Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has also been evicted from the Lodge, where she has lived with the ex-prince for many years. She has been instructed to make her own arrangements, but it is understood that she won’t be moving back in with Andrew; her future plans remain a mystery.
The annual Remembrance engagements are a cornerstone of the Royal calendar, where the House of Windsor honours those who have sacrificed their lives for this country. Several years ago, Andrew would have been at the forefront of these events, but is now staying away.
Another source told The Sun that Andrew is spending a lot of his time “wandering” around Royal Lodge “ranting to himself,” while Fergie is often found “pouring her heart out” to staff or friends in “The Dog House,” a bar on site. “They are both spending a lot of time alone,” the source said.
“Andrew rarely goes out and has been padding around the lodge and ranting and muttering.” Fergie is “not in a good way” but sees herself as “blameless” despite borrowing money from Epstein in the past and calling him a “supreme friend”, the source claimed.
The former Duke, who once travelled around the world as a trade representative for Britain, now keeps himself largely indoors, immersed in gaming in what observers describe as a state of “arrested adolescence”. The fallen Royal reportedly whiles away most hours in an expansive lounge featuring an enormous display that “takes up almost an entire wall”, where he indulges in video games or watches military films and golf broadcasts.
According to Andrew Lownie’s recent biography Entitled, the ex-duke takes pleasure in viewing “endless videos of planes taking off and landing [and] talking on his mobile for hours on end. The royal, who has been embroiled in scandal, reportedly spends his time “reading thrillers” and his favourite book is said to be ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’.
He also partakes in a daily ritual known as an “air shower”, where Andrew “sits by an open window or on a balcony, closes his eyes and ‘sucks in fresh air – regardless of the temperature outside’.” A source revealed to Lownie that Andrew has struggled with insomnia for most of his life, a problem that hasn’t improved amidst his recent controversies.
“I don’t think Andrew has slept through an entire night since he was a teenager,” the source was quoted as saying, adding that Andrew can be incredibly “paranoid”. “He’s the consummate paranoid prince, thinking everyone and their uncle is out to get him”.
Despite this apparent paranoia, it’s also suggested that Andrew is living in a state of “denial”. One staff member alleged that he is “pretending that everything is good when he subconsciously knows that things are really bad”.
They further claimed that losing his titles has been the hardest blow, worse than the accusations of sexual assault — which Andrew vehemently denies.: “Remember, the most difficult thing for the Duke of York was not the allegations of sexual misconduct; it was being stripped of his royal titles and losing his key role with the Royal Family — he’s never gotten over this.”
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