Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is expected to leave Royal Lodge in Windsor for Sandringham, but a royal biographer speculates he may relocate somewhere his daughters Eugenie and Beatrice know well
13:15, 25 Nov 2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been ordered to leave Royal Lodge by King Charles(Image: GETTY)
Disgraced former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will soon vacate his home at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, swapping it for more modest accommodation in Sandringham. However, royal biographer Andrew Lownie suggests it’s not merely Windsor that the disgraced former prince will be leaving, but Britain entirely.
The ex-prince was stripped of all his titles following revelations of leaked correspondence with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Yet Lownie, writer of the bombshell exposé Entitled, believes a relocation to Sandringham might prove merely a stopgap arrangement.
“He’s not going to a house that is that much smaller,” he said. “He’s not going to a two-up, two down. He’s going to have staff, I think that they’re playing all this down but he’s not going to be shopping in Lidl. He’s going to be paid quite a lot of money to move.
“I personally don’t think that he’s going to end up at Sandringham, I think that charges will be brought against him and he will flee to the Middle East or somewhere, rather like King Juan Carlos, but that’s only me speculating.”
The former prince has been stung by the decisions to strip him of his titles(Image: Getty)
Lownie declined to specify which charges might materialise, though Andrew currently faces pressure to give evidence in America regarding his links with Epstein. He noted that Andrew maintains substantial ties in the United Arab Emirates, a country 4,200 miles away from the UK.
During his 2001 visit to the UAE as Britain’s trade envoy, Mountbatten-Windsor forged a close personal bond with the then-Crown Prince and present ruler, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Both Beatrice and Eugenie have frequently been spotted at high-profile events in the UAE.
Just last month, Princess Beatrice, 37, was seen at the so-called “Davos of the Desert” business conference, the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She sported a delegate badge that not only displayed her formal royal title, but also the name Liontree, an asset management firm where she is believed to hold an advisory role. And last year, the sisters made a joint visit to Abu Dhabi.
Both Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah have lost their titles(Image: Getty)
Lownie has repeatedly suggested that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor might find more happiness living “somewhere where the media is muzzled, where he will still be treated as a senior royal”.
In the UAE, Lownie proposed, public sentiment would likely be more favourable towards him. According to recent IPSOS data, in the UK, 77% of people hold an unfavourable opinion of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, while a mere 9% view him favourably.
Lownie points out that while the British Royal Family are sensitive about public perception, rulers in the UAE and across the Middle East generally “will do what suits them”.
Princess Beatrice meeting with podcaster Sunil Sharma in Riyadh last month(Image: sunilsharmauk/Instagram)
Some reports suggest that Andrew has been “offered a 16,000-square-foot palace” in Abu Dhabi. The residence boasts six en-suite bedrooms, a private cinema and extensive security, offering the disgraced Royal a potential “life of luxury” away from public scrutiny.
Those allegations have been challenged by James Henderson, a veteran PR consultant to Andrew’s former wife Sarah Ferguson.
However, Lownie maintains that the ex-Duke of York maintains strong connections to the UAE, a small collection of Middle Eastern nations roughly one-third the size of Britain. “His children spend a lot of time in the Middle East,” Lownie went on.
“That’s where they’re doing a lot of their business at the moment.”
Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is said to be a close friend of Mountbatten-Windsor(Image: Getty)
He suggests that, should legal difficulties facing Andrew continue to intensify, a swift departure to Abu Dhabi might well be considered. “I suspect that it would suit everyone’s purposes if basically Andrew did disappear there away from public view and the story got shut down,” he said.
He outlined that, whilst an extradition agreement does exist between Britain and the UAE, the Emirati authorities would have little concern about disregarding it, and dismissing any criticism that followed: “The last thing [The Palace] wants is a trial, with all the dirty linen aired in public,” he said, “and so this would be a very neat solution”.
Speaking on Times Radio Royal biographer Andrew Morton mirrored Lownie’s predictions, saying: “I would predict that, if we’re speaking about this time next year, Andrew will probably live somewhere abroad.”
Representatives for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have been contacted for comment.
