BROTHERS AT WAR
Prince Andrew ‘to deploy secret weapon’ in desperate bid to stay at crumbling Royal Lodge amid King Charles feud
A PR expert has said there is no way back for the Duke of York
KING Charles is allegedly threatening to sever ties with Prince Andrew over his failure to vacate his “crumbling” Royal Lodge.
And according to a royal expert, the Duke of York, 64, may deploy a “secret weapon” in his bid to stay at his £30million Windsor-based mansion.
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The King, 75, has redoubled efforts this year to evict his brother who shares the home with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, with insiders branding the stand-off the "siege of Royal Lodge".
Editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward claimed Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Eugenie, could be key in helping him to stay.
She told Fabulous: “The princesses are Andrew’s secret weapon.
“They are very popular amongst the royal family and Charles is especially fond of them.
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“They are his passport now he has lost everything.”
Ingrid added that Beatrice, 35, and Eugenie, 34, know their father is happy at Royal Lodge.
She continued: “It is his home and it has been their home for many years too.
“Their childhood was all over the place and Royal Lodge was the one stability they had.
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“They love their dad and want to help him if they possibly can. Their mum can’t do anything but they can.”
Palace sources say the King, who is funding Andrew's life, could "reconsider the levels of support he is willing to provide" if he refuses all offers of a new home.
King Charles & Prince Andrew’s Royal Lodge rift is ‘so bitter’ it rivals that of Harry & William’s feud, claims royal expert
The Sun exclusively revealed Andrew had rejected the chance to move into Frogmore Cottage last year after Harry and Meghan were served with eviction.
The shamed Duke of York, 64, who will never return to public duty after his Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal, has refused the King's pleas to move out for 18 months.
Andrew is still refusing to budge, pointing out that he is in possession of a 75-year lease.
But a friend told : "It can be done tidily or untidily. It can be done with grace and dignity or it can be forced upon him. It’s all rather sad.
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"But as things stand, life at Royal Lodge is set to become increasingly cold and uncomfortable for the duke.
"The only question now is when he will realise that he has become a prisoner of his own pride - and that handing back the keys will afford him far greater comfort, and the continued support of his family."
It comes as Charles is said to be unwilling to keep paying out of his own pocket to fund Andrew's lavish lifestyle.
'There is no way back for Prince Andrew', claims PR guru
PRINCE Andrew’s reputation is damaged beyond repair and he will never be able to engineer a return to public life, according to one of Britain’s top PR gurus.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede, who runs East of Eden PR agency, called the shamed royal “deluded” for thinking he could ever return to royal duties and urged him to give up and ‘enjoy his life’ in exile.
It follows the release of Scoop - a Netflix movie based on the 2019 interview he gave to Newsnight.
Nick said: “There is no way back for him.
“I think you know this perpetual idea that he could still be back. Nobody cares. He hasn't got fans.
“There's nobody out there who's going ‘We want to see Prince Andrew’, not one single person. I think he has to realise that. But I think it's going to take a long, long time for him to actually understand. It's very deluded.
"In my opinion, the best thing that he could do is just enjoy his life. He's got gorgeous daughters. He has a great relationship with Fergie, he has a lovely house.
“Just live a quiet life.”
Reflecting on the interview five years ago - the fallout of which saw Andrew step back from royal duties "for the foreseeable future" - Nick compared the fallout to Frost vs Nixon and said he would have urged him not to do it.
He said: “If I had been advising him, I would say, go quiet, be quiet, just go to ground. You know you're a prince. Enjoy the life that you lead, but do not open this can of worms, because that's what it is.
“There was no admission that a relationship with somebody like Epstein was terribly toxic. There was no idea that there were loads of victims of trafficking whose lives were completely ruined by Epstein. He didn't seem to think that the association he had with that man was anything but positive.
“I think his worst gaffe was obviously being in that interview and agreeing to it in the first place, for not realising that he's actually going to be interviewed by a very, very good journalist who is going to ask him questions which he might not like.
“But I think what this has done is really shown how archaic Prince Andrew is in his opinions and thoughts.
"Read the room. He's never read a room at all.”
Sources close to the monarch claim he could be forced to "reconsider the levels of support he is willing to provide" if the so-called siege of Royal Lodge continues.
The disgraced Duke's police protection was removed when he stepped down from public duty amid the Epstein scandal.
But Charles stepped in to pick up his multi-million pounds private security bill.
The princesses are Andrew’s secret weapon. They are very popular amongst the royal family and Charles is especially fond of them
Ingrid Seward
The crisis shows no sign of going away after Netflix screened its hit drama Scoop detailing Andy's 'car crash' Newsnight interview.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
And there is yet another depiction of his shame in an Amazon series on his downfall where Andrew is played by actor Michael Sheen.
The scandal-hit father of two has kept out of the public since he caused controversy leading the family into a service for late Greek King Constantine at Windsor Castle in February in the absence of the cancer-hit King.
Inside Prince Andrew's 'crumbling' Royal Lodge
THE disgraced Duke of York resides at the £30million Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire - at least for now.
King Charles has redoubled his efforts to evict the Duke - with insiders branding the stand-off the "siege of Royal Lodge".
Despite his divorce from Sarah Ferguson in 1996, Prince Andrew lives with his ex-wife at the countryside estate.
Prince Andrew's royal residence, with its eye-catching white exterior, boasts 30 rooms with plenty of space for entertaining, plus seven bedrooms spread across the two topmost floors.
The Duke of York is said to spend all day "watching TV in a dark room" like a prisoner at his "crumbling" home.
Royal Lodge is said to "need extensive repairs", thought to be about £400,000 a year.
The monarch is said to be becoming increasingly frustrated at Andrew’s refusal to care for the colossal mansion.
Andrew is said to have promised he would take care of its expensive repairs - despite having no apparent source of income.
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