Britain’s former prince Andrew has relocated from his opulent Windsor residence to a royal property in eastern England, as per a report by the BBC on Tuesday. This move comes amidst escalating scrutiny regarding his connections to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The ex-royal, now identified as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, is facing growing demands to clarify his involvements highlighted in the recent release of documents by the US Justice Department (DOJ) relating to Epstein.
Reportedly, Andrew, aged 65, vacated the Royal Lodge on Monday, although Buckingham Palace has not confirmed this information to AFP. For the past twenty years, he had been residing at the estate near Windsor Castle with his former spouse Sarah Ferguson.
According to the BBC, Andrew is presently staying at a temporary residence within the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The Sun tabloid mentioned that he is expected to eventually move into a renovated permanent residence there called Marsh Farm.
The pressure on the former royal, who is the younger sibling of King Charles III, has heightened following his appearance in the latest cache from the Epstein files disclosed by the DOJ last Friday. These documents include images of the then-prince in a certain pose near a woman on the ground, along with emails inviting Epstein to Buckingham Palace for “private” discussions.
In response to these revelations, Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged Andrew to provide testimony before the US Congress regarding his knowledge of Epstein’s illicit activities. Furthermore, a second victim of Epstein has alleged, through her legal representative, that the American financier dispatched her to Britain in 2010 to engage in sexual activities with Andrew at Royal Lodge.
Andrew has consistently refuted any allegations of misconduct. However, he reached a multimillion-pound settlement in 2022 with another Epstein accuser, Virginia Giuffre, without admitting any wrongdoing. Regrettably, Giuffre passed away by suicide last year.
In 2019, Andrew withdrew from his royal duties due to the accusations surrounding his association with Epstein, who tragically took his own life in prison that same year while awaiting trial for offenses against minors.
