‘Stubborn’ Prince Andrew ‘refuses to move out of Royal Lodge as he doesn’t want to admit guilt’, royal expert says

PRINCE Andrew is refusing to move out of Royal Lodge because it would admit his guilty part in the sex scandal, claims a royal expert.

The disgraced Duke of York, 64, lives on the sprawling Windsor estate despite stepping back from public-facing duties nearly five years ago.

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Andrew hasn't received an income since becoming embroiled in sex allegations after his long-standing friendship with late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

And brother King Charles, 75, has been funding security and a living allowance for him since.

With pressures mounting to kick Andrew out of Royal Lodge and into a smaller residence, expert Hugo Vickers said an ideal situation would be if he volunteered to relocate.

But by doing so, shamed Andrew would be giving up his 75-year lease on the place - which experts argue would only be forfeited if he had a guilty conscience having long been linked to Epstein.

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Hugo told The Sun: "I think we must all accept that he is not wanted for any public duties.

"If you were running a charity you wouldn't be asking Prince Andrew to come and be your guest of honour. So nobody wants him in a public way.

"So there he is living at Royal Lodge, playing golf, seeing his children and grandchildren and riding in the park and it is expensive.

"The ideal situation would of course be that Andrew would volunteer to down-size and move somewhere else. 

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"What I think he feels is that if he moves out of Royal Lodge it's somehow publicly accepting guilt for which he has not been proved.

"Nevertheless it's an expensive lifestyle."

Last month The Sun revealed that Charles had laid off Andrew's ten-strong private security detail.

A palace insider told The Sun: "Everyone is speculating this means the Duke will have to leave the Royal Lodge."

The source added: "What other reason could there be to take his security away?

"They are all working the final weeks of their contract till the end of October.

"It’s not thought anyone is being lined up to replace them. It isn’t a secret that the King wants him out.";

Earlier this year The Sun also exclusively revealed Andrew, who lives at the Lodge with ex-wife Sarah ­Ferguson, had rejected the chance to move to nearby Frogmore ­Cottage, former home of Harry and Meghan.

Palace sources have always insisted Andrew “remains the King’s brother” and is welcome at family events but will never return to public duty.

Andrew has previously been caught lobbying behind the scenes for the Home Office to reinstate his taxpayer-funded security perk.

He lost his round-the-clock Met Police security after he was summoned to Windsor Castle in January 2022 and stripped of his royal roles by the late Queen.

It came after Andrew was accused of having sex with underage Virginia Giuffre on Epstein's "Paedo Island" as well as allegedly knowing about his pal's sex crimes.

He however vowed to fight accusations of sexual assault by former Epstein slave Giuffre.

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The Duke ended up paying millions of pounds to Ms Giuffre and the case never went to court.

He denies any wrongdoing.