Prince William Reportedly Went Low To Get Andrew & Fergie Out Of Royal Lodge

The dispute between Andrew Windsor and the royal family over the prince's residence at the Royal Lodge is once again heating up, with Prince William reportedly making it clear that no negotiating tactic is off the table when it comes to forcing his disgraced uncle out of the property he shares with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Though Andrew initially appeared to come out on top of his clash with older brother King Charles III over the Royal Lodge, recent developments have changed the game.

In October 2025, new details came to light regarding Andrew's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, prompting Andrew to announce that he would be giving up his title as the Duke of York following a discussion with King Charles. Despite this, Andrew's lavish lifestyle seemed unlikely to change, as it subsequently emerged that he had effectively been living at the Royal Lodge rent-free since moving in more than 20 years ago, and that the royals would have to pay him a hefty compensation fee should they terminate his 75-year lease early.

This and more shady information about Andrew only exacerbated the situation for the royal family. According to former BBC reporter Emily Maitlis, who conducted Andrew's disastrous 2019 interview, Prince William threatened to strip Andrew and Ferguson's daughters — Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie — of their own royal titles if Andrew didn't move. "They are at the moment allowed to be princesses, but there was a bit of pressure, we understand, being put on the princesses to say this is going to happen," Maitlis said on "The News Agents" podcast (via the The Daily Mail). At the time of writing, The Sun reports that Andrew has agreed to leave the Royal Lodge in exchange for two other royal properties for himself and his ex-wife.

Though perhaps somewhat unconventional, Prince William using Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie's royal titles as leverage to get Prince Andrew out of the Royal Lodge isn't terribly surprising. After all, William — King Charles III's eldest son and heir apparent to the British throne — reportedly believes that his father has been far too easy on Andrew as it pertains to the now-former Duke of York's scandals.

"Prince William, in particular, is not satisfied with how the Prince Andrew situation has been handled at the moment. ... He is far more ruthless than his father," royal photographer Helena Chard told Fox News in October 2025. "He can see reputational damage escalating for the royal family and is reviewing a decisive way forward to combat further scandals," Chard continued, adding that while William wants to protect his father from any blowback, he also wants him to ditch the "kid gloves" and take more decisive action against Andrew in the name of preserving the royal family's reputation. Fox also reported that the Prince of Wales is prepared to excommunicate Andrew entirely once he ascends to the throne.

Pivoting back to Beatrice and Eugenie, while Emily Maitlis reported that they'll get to keep their titles for the moment, their royal future is supposedly still up in the air as William moves to ice out their controversial father. Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams noted in the Fox report, "Only four working royals are under 70. There was potential for them, which now seems unlikely, but anything could happen in the weeks and months ahead."