'Disgraced' Ex-Prince Andrew to Move Into High-Security Sandringham Home Within Weeks

The sprawling Royal Lodge has been Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's sanctuary for more than two decades, a 30-bedroom mansion nestled within Windsor Great Park where he has lived since 2003. Yet within weeks, he will leave this fortress of privilege behind, retreating to a far humbler existence on the Norfolk coast.

What was once unthinkable has become inevitable. The man who was born a prince will spend the final years of his life in a modest farmhouse, surrounded by security fences and CCTV cameras, waiting for a redemption that may never come.

The fall from grace has been staggering. In October 2025, King Charles initiated a formal process that stripped his younger brother of every royal title and honour: Prince, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh and the designation of His Royal Highness.

The process culminated in November, leaving Andrew with nothing but his birth name and the legal obligation to vacate Royal Lodge. The palace's statement was clinical in its precision: 'His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease, and he will move to alternative private accommodation'.

Now, as winter gives way to spring, the machinery of his eviction is accelerating. According to reporting from The Sun and corroborated by multiple sources, Andrew is expected to leave Royal Lodge 'within weeks', likely before his 66th birthday on Feb. 19.

The rush is not accidental. The alternative properties he requested — Prince Harry's Frogmore Cottage or Wood Farm, where his late father Prince Philip spent his final retirement — were deemed either unavailable or too close to the wider royal family. Instead, he has been designated Marsh Farm, a ramshackle property on the Sandringham estate that requires extensive renovations before it can be made habitable.

From Royal Grandeur to Agricultural Solitude

Photographs taken on Jan. 12 reveal the scale of the transformation underway. Workers have installed six-foot wooden fences around Marsh Farm's perimeter, not merely for privacy but for the high-security measures that Andrew's contentious position now demands.

CCTV cameras are being fitted. Electricians are working around the clock to upgrade electrics and sewerage systems. A JCB digger idles on the front lawn. The property, which requires 'a lot of attention to make it habitable', according to one source, stands in stark contrast to the palatial splendour Andrew has known.

What awaits him is genuinely modest. Marsh Farm contains only five bedrooms, two reception areas, and a kitchen — a property so utterly diminished from Royal Lodge that former palace staff regard the move as a form of exile.

One insider explained the grim calculus: 'The snow or rain hasn't delayed the work on Marsh Farm but it still needs a lot of attention to make it habitable. But one thing for sure is that it is a lot, lot smaller and less luxurious than Royal Lodge'.

The farmhouse sits approximately seven miles from Sandringham House, the stately residence where King Charles and other senior royals gather for Christmas — close enough to maintain formal oversight, yet distant enough to avoid uncomfortable encounters.

This relocation has been deliberately timed to prevent exactly such encounters. The palace orchestrated Andrew's continued residence at Royal Lodge through the Christmas holidays, when the royal family traditionally gathers at Sandringham.

Neither Andrew nor his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson — who has also lost her title, the Duchess of York — received invitations to this year's celebrations. Their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, attended without them.

Similarly, the Easter deadline (currently pegged for 5 April) appears designed to spare Andrew the humiliation of sharing Easter Sunday services at St. George's Chapel with the wider royal family.

The Final Chapter of a Once-Revered Royal

The tragedy of Andrew's situation is not merely architectural or financial. It is profoundly psychological. The disgraced former duke has reportedly come to terms with his exile, having ceased fighting the inevitable. 'He's finally decided he needs to get on with his life and so is moving out sooner than thought,' one source close to Andrew told reporters, suggesting a grudging acceptance of his new reality.

Yet the broader context remains immovable. Andrew's name appears in the recently released Epstein files — emails and documents that have given credence to the decades-old allegations surrounding his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre, who accused Andrew of having sex with her while she was a minor, tragically took her own life by suicide in April 2025 at her farm in Western Australia. Andrew has consistently and firmly denied all allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. Nevertheless, the public's patience with his denials has long since expired.

According to a YouGov survey conducted after his titles were stripped, 79% of Britons supported King Charles's decision to remove Andrew's royal honours, with 58% believing the royal family had been too slow to act. The monarchy, facing sustained pressure to demonstrate accountability and sever ties with toxicity, had little choice but to act decisively.

What remains uncertain is whether Marsh Farm represents a permanent destination or merely a waystation. Some royal observers have speculated that Andrew might eventually seek overseas exile — a country estate beyond the reach of continued public humiliation.

For now, however, the diggers continue their work at the ramshackle Norfolk property, and Andrew counts down the weeks until he must leave behind two decades of royal residence and enter a life of enforced seclusion.