Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ‘could flee UK’ for destination Beatrice and Eugenie know well

EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor may choose to leave internal exile in Sandringham, Andrew Lownie suggests, and go where ‘he will still be treated as a senior royal’

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is expected to soon leave his beloved Royal Lodge in Windsor, exchanging it for a smaller property in Sandringham. And royal biographer Andrew Lownie says it’s not just Windsor that the shamed former prince could leave, but the UK altogether. The former royal had all his titles removed in the wake of a leaked email to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But Lownie thinks a move to Sandringham could be just a temporary measure.

“He’s not going to a house that is that much smaller,” he told Express.co.uk. “He’s not going to a two-up, two down. He’s going to have staff, I think that they’re playing all this down but he’s not going to be shopping in Lidl. He’s going to be paid quite a lot of money to move. I personally don’t think that he’s going to end up at Sandringham, I think that charges will be brought against him and he will flee to the Middle East or somewhere, rather like King Juan Carlos, but that’s only me speculating.”

Both Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah have lost their titles (Image: Getty)

Lownie did not elaborate on which charges will be brought, but Andrew is currently facing calls to testify in the US about his association with Epstein.

He explains that Andrew has strong connections in the United Arab Emirates. When, as UK trade envoy, he visited the UAE in 2001, he developed a strong personal friendship with the then-Crown Prince and current ruler, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Both Beatrice and Eugenie have been regularly seen in the UAE at high-profile events. Just last month, Princess Beatrice, 37, was spotted at the so called “Davos of the Desert” business conference, the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She was wearing a delegate badge that contained not only her formal royal title, but the name Liontree, an asset management firm where she reportedly holds an advisory role. Last year, the sisters visited Abu Dhabi together.

Princess Beatrice meeting with podcaster Sunil Sharma in Riyadh last month (Image: sunilsharmauk/Instagram)

Lownie has more than once suggested that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor might be happier living “somewhere where the media is muzzled, where he will still be treated as a senior royal”.

In the UAE, he suggested, public opinion would be much kinder to him. In the UK, according to recent data from IPSOS, 77% of people have an unfavourable opinion of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, while just 9% are favourable.

Lownie says that while the British Royal Family are sensitive about public perception, rulers in the UAE and across the Middle East generally “will do what suits them”.

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is said to be a close friend of Mountbatten-Windsor (Image: Getty)

According to some reports, Andrew has been “offered a 16,000-square-foot palace” in Abu Dhabi. The residence has six en-suite bedrooms, a private cinema and extensive security, and the disgraced royal could enjoy a “life of luxury” there away from public scrutiny.

Those claims have been disputed by James Henderson, a long-time PR adviser to Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.

But nevertheless, Lownie says, the former Duke of York has strong ties to the UAE, a tiny group of Middle-Eastern states, some one-third the size of the UK. “His children spend a lot of time in the Middle East,” Lownie continued. “That’s where they’re doing a lot of their business at the moment.”

He adds that, if legal pressure on Andrew were to continue to mount, a flit to Abu Dhabi could well be on the cards. “I suspect that it would suit everyone’s purposes if basically Andrew did disappear there away from public view and the story got shut down,” he said.

He explained that, while an extradition treaty does exist between the UK and the UAE, the Emirati leadership would have no problem with flouting it, and ignoring any blame that came their way: “The last thing [The Palace] wants is a trial, with all the dirty linen aired in public,” he said, “and so this would be a very neat solution”

Speaking on Times Radio Royal biographer Andrew Morton echoed Lownie’s speculation, saying: “I would predict that, if we’re speaking about this time next year, Andrew will probably live somewhere abroad.

Representatives for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have been contacted for comment.