Friday 21st of November 2025
Home » Blogs » Gus Leonisky's blog

remaining eighth in line for the throne, despite losing his titles....

Britain’s King Charles III has stripped his brother Prince Andrew of his remaining titles and evicted him from his royal residence due to sexual assault allegations and his close friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

According to the royal family, from now on, the former prince will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and must vacate the Royal Lodge mansion near Windsor Castle, where he has lived for more than 20 years. Andrew, who surrendered his use of the title Duke of York earlier this month, will move to “alternative private accommodation,” Buckingham Palace said on Thursday.

“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him. Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse,” the statement said.

According to the BBC, Andrew remains eighth in line to the British throne, despite losing his titles.

In 2022, Andrew settled a civil lawsuit with US activist Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that he had raped her three times in 2001, when she was 17 years old. Giuffre, who committed suicide in April, claimed that Epstein and his girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, had trafficked her to the royal. Andrew maintains that the alleged incidents “never happened” and insists that he was unaware of Epstein’s crimes when he hosted him and Maxwell at Royal Lodge in 2006.

Interest in the Epstein case was reignited earlier this year when US government agencies said they had found no evidence of foul play in his 2019 death in a Manhattan jail, which was ruled a suicide. Officials also denied that the disgraced financier had kept a list of the wealthy people he allegedly trafficked women to. Giuffre’s memoirs were posthumously released in October, bringing renewed attention to Andrew’s ties to Epstein.

https://www.rt.com/news/627172-king-charles-evicts-andrew/

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

toad halls....

 Andrew's move solves a possible headache for the Waleses
 

Royal Lodge, the house Andrew will soon leave, is just a short walk from the Prince and Princess of Wales' new home.

William and Catherine are set to move into Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park, an eight-bedroom home which is just 1.34 miles (2.15km) from Royal Lodge as the crow flies. 

William and Catherine's move has been characterised as a "fresh start" after a challenging period that included the princess's cancer diagnosis.

"It's an opportunity to leave some of the more unhappy memories behind," a royal source told us earlier this year.

There had been some speculation Andrew could move into another Windsor property, but his move to Sandringham means the future King and Queen will have distance - literally - from the scandal-hit former prince.

Buckigham Palace has confirmed Andrew will be moving some 140 miles (225km) north-east of his Windsor mansion to Sandringham - and away from senior royals like the King and Queen, who reside in London, and the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Some assumed Andrew would move from Royal Lodge to another property on the Windsor estate, Frogmore Cottage for example, royal biographer Robert Hardman told the BBC earlier.

"But no," he says, "he's off the estate, he's out of Windsor, he's out of royal Berkshire - he's been sent up the M11 to the royal equivalent of Siberia to sit in Sandringham for the rest of his life."

"This is - some might say brutal, others might say definitive."

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cnveqgj957dt

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

 

no hurry....

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor will not have to leave Royal Lodge immediately and could move to Sandringham as late as the new year, the BBC understands. 

On Thursday, King Charles stripped his younger brother of his titles and honours, and moved to force him out of his Windsor mansion. He will be moving to a property on the King's Norfolk estate, paid for by the monarch.

The dramatic statement came after months of pressure over Andrew's private life, as his ties to disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein continued to dog the royals. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the government has said it had no plans to pass a law to formally remove Andrew from the line of succession.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2emmdnw82yo

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

royal tolls....

 

Robert Hazell

Prince Andrew’s ‘one peppercorn’ lease exposes how little is known about royal finances

 

In announcing that Prince Andrew would no longer use his title or honours, Buckingham Palace hoped to shift the spotlight away from his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, and the accusations of sexual abuse he has faced (and denied).

The media were encouraged to focus instead on King Charles’s visit to the Vatican, and the royal family’s good works. But this strategy has failed. Revelations about  Prince Andrew’s living arrangements and finances have whetted the appetite for more.

One such revelation is his royal residence. Andrew has a 75-year lease from the crown estate on  Royal Lodge, a large house in Windsor Great Park. The Times  published the lease, revealing that he paid £1 million for it plus a minimum of £7.5 million in refurbishments. In return for this very large upfront cost, Andrew pays an annual rent of “one peppercorn (if demanded)”.

The crown estate is a statutory corporation operating under the  Crown Estate Act 1961 (as amended in 2025), which manages a huge property portfolio including Regent Street in London and most of the foreshore around the coast, generating a big income from wind farms.

Its net revenue profit — which in 2023-24 amounted to £1.1 billion — is paid to the Treasury. The government uses 12% of the profits to fund the sovereign grant, which provides financial support for the monarchy.

Since 2019, when he ceased to be a working royal, Prince Andrew no longer receives any public funding from the sovereign grant. Mysteries about his sources of income may be hard for the palace to dispel without being more transparent about the royal finances more generally.

One particular area of interest is the  Duchy of Lancaster, which last year provided King Charles with £27 million of his income. The palace website states that this is “a portfolio of land, property and assets held in trust for the sovereign. Its main purpose is to provide an independent source of income, and is used mainly to pay for official expenditure not met by the Sovereign Grant (primarily to meet expenses incurred by other members of the Royal Family)".

Prior to the sovereign grant, the monarchy was funded through the civil list. This was an annual sum of money voted by Parliament, which included the annuities received by other members of the royal family.

Since the  Sovereign Grant Act 2011, those annuities are no longer published. The Duchy of Lancaster’s  annual report and accounts gives lots of detail about the Duchy’s income, but none about its expenditure.

The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey MP has  called for a select committee inquiry to “properly scrutinise” the crown estate, and Baroness (Margaret) Hodge, former chair of the public accounts committee, has  called for greater transparency about the royal finances.

What next for Andrew?

The  nine commissioners who manage the crown estate’s holdings are property experts who operate independently of government and the crown. They cannot simply terminate Prince Andrew’s lease, but there is  mounting pressure on him to relinquish the lease voluntarily.

When it comes to his remaining titles, both the palace and UK Government will be desperate to close the story down and move on. The government took the line that it was all a matter for the king and the palace.

Sir Alan Campbell, leader of the House of Commons,  said: “The question of [Andrew’s] titles is primarily a question for His Majesty. I know there has been speculation about legislation, but the palace has been clear it recognises that there are other matters this House needs to be getting on with, and we are guided in this by the palace.”

In practice, the palace will also be guided by the government, which will be keen to avoid legislation if at all possible. Short of legislation, there is little more the palace can do.

The king could issue letters patent declaring that Prince Andrew is no longer His Royal Highness. He could also give an undertaking that Andrew would never be called upon to serve as a counsellor of state, deputising for the monarch in his absence.

If public anger remained unabated, and legislation was deemed unavoidable, a short bill could be prepared to strip Andrew of his peerage titles and remove him as a counsellor of state. It could be passed relatively quickly: the Counsellors of State Act 2022, which added Princess Anne and Prince Edward to the list of potential counsellors of state, went through all its Commons stages in a single day.

The finances are trickier. The Commons public accounts committee may  hold a single evidence session just on Andrew’s finances, or launch a wider inquiry.

It may be hard to avoid the latter. Having made public the lease on Royal Lodge, the crown estate may find it difficult to refuse to disclose the leases on other properties occupied by the royal family, or other information about its finances.

If Parliament decides to launch a wider inquiry, the payments to other members of the royal family funded by the Duchy of Lancaster would be an obvious place to start.

 

Disclosure statement

Robert Hazell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

 

https://theconversation.com/prince-andrews-one-peppercorn-lease-exposes-how-little-is-known-about-royal-finances-268528

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

discharged....

The government is "working to remove" Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's last honorary military title at the King’s request, the defence secretary has said.

John Healey said King Charles had "indicated that's what he wishes".

Andrew, who was stripped of his title as a prince on Thursday, retained his rank as a Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy after giving up his other military positions in 2022.

Healey told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: "This is a move that's right, it's a move the King has indicated we should take and we're working on that at the moment."

Andrew spent decades in public life as a war hero and prince, but has since suffered a major fall from grace.

The King’s younger brother had a 22-year career in the Royal Navy, and served as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands War.

He also commanded the mine countermeasures vessel HMS Cottesmore.

This week, he lost his last remaining royal titles and privileges following months of pressure over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has always denied wrongdoing.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, royal author and journalist Valentine Low said this latest move, to lose his final military title, will be a "blow" to Andrew.

"Royals, and particularly Andrew, are very proud and determined to hang onto military titles," he said.

"It seems the King is intent on taking absolutely everything away from his brother. It's a flinty eyed ruthlessness he's displaying."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8675l25591o

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.