Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s new home revealed? Empty run-down farm on Sandringham estate ‘being refurbished for disgraced former Duke’
Disgraced former prince Andrew could be moving into a rundown farm on the Sandringham estate.
Marsh Farm, located seven miles west of his brother King Charles‘ lavish country retreat, is reportedly being eyed up for when he leaves Royal Lodge.
Nearby businesses have remained tight-lipped about the potential arrival of their new neighbour at the sprawling estate in Wolferton.
A royal insider told The Sun on Sunday Andrew ‘has been told he is off to Marsh Farm’, but ‘it needs an awful lot of work to be done before it’s habitable’.
‘It means we could be waiting a long time before he ever leaves Royal Lodge,’ they told the newspaper.
Buckingham Palace denied to comment when contacted by the Mail.
The Mail on Sunday exclusively revealed today that the former Duke is set to swap his 30-room mansion for a ‘shoebox-sized’ holding property on a remote part of the King’s private Norfolk estate.
The property he will eventually move into is understood to be currently under extensive renovation in preparation for his arrival, which suggests that it will be a substantial home, though still much smaller than Royal Lodge.
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Disgraced former prince Andrew could be moving into a rundown farm on the Sandringham estate
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Marsh Farm, located seven miles west of his brother King Charles’ lavish country retreat, is reportedly being eyed up for when he leaves Royal Lodge
It is believed that Andrew was keen to move to the five-bedroom cottage Wood Farm – where Prince Philip spent his retirement – but there had been some debate over whether that might mean he is ‘too close’ to the rest of the family.
The wooden-gated Marsh Farm is situated a short distance north of his father’s former home, near the Dersingham Bog Nature Reserve.
The farm has a gravel driveway, with a main home, two reception rooms, kitchen, and some outbuildings.
Sources say one of the most significant factors delaying the Andrew’s departure from Royal Lodge is the sheer volume of disorder inside the ‘dilapidated’ property.
But sources say even the renovated property might not be his full-time base for long.
Friends of the former Duke of York say it is unlikely the disgraced Royal will remain in Norfolk full-time, and suggest that he could relocate to the Middle East where he has long-established business contacts.
Many believe that Bahrain is the ultimate destination for Andrew in the long term.
The revelations about Andrew’s future comes as royal aides have begun removing the contents of Royal Lodge under ‘cover of darkness’ in preparation for Andrew’s departure next year.
A lorry belonging to the Royal Household is understood to have taken the first few items last week to a Windsor storage facility belonging to the Crown Estate.
Aides have expressed concerns that Andrew – a ‘natural hoarder’ who has filled the rooms of his Windsor home with clutter – was not prepared to accept any help to sort through his private collections.
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Nearby businesses have remained tight-lipped about the potential arrival of their new royal neighbour at the sprawling estate in Wolferton
Around ’80 per cent’ of his belongings must go, sources claim, and some ante-rooms are said to be filled to the ceiling with piles of documents and photographs.
Some require careful handling, while others which relate to Royal history may need to be professionally archived.
One source said: ‘A lorry has been and gone under the cover of darkness. Andrew is going to a shoebox-sized house, compared to Royal Lodge, so a lot of the things that were taken are going into a storage unit. The clutter at Royal Lodge is turning what should be a straightforward move into a months-long, room-by-room excavation.
‘It’s all going to be painfully slow, especially with refurbishment work to complete at the other end. These aren’t the kind of belongings you can sweep into a skip. Even if Andrew wanted to move tomorrow, he couldn’t.’
