Prince Andrew has reportedly complained that the cottage once occupied by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is too modest for his needs — but that he still won't be able to afford it.
The 63-year-old Duke of York's brother King Charles III has asked him to give up the 30-rooom Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, the grounds of the royal residence of Windsor Castle, where he pays just £250 per week in rent. Andrew had already lost the use of his suite of rooms at Buckingham Palace.
Charles has also evicted his son Prince Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, from the smaller Frogmore Cottage on the site to make way for Andrew.
But a British newspaper reported that the elderly prince is against the "downgrade" in his digs from his current home, with its 98 acres of private grounds and a swimming pool. Their sources also said Andrew fears he will not be able to afford to live there after the king cuts off his £250,000 pocket money.
He has already been forced to sell off properties and assets, including a £19-million ski chalet, to pay for the out-of-court settlement of the civil lawsuit brought against him by Virginia Roberts-Giuffre in New York.
Roberts-Giuffre alleged she was brought from the USA to London in 2001 at the age of 17 by Ghislaine Maxwell, the lover and accomplice of convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, where she slept with Prince Andrew. She and Andrew settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Frogmore is not just a run-of-the-mill country cottage however. The, 5,000 square-foot (470 m2) Grade II listed building has four bedrooms plus a nursery, and four bathrooms to boot. It was renovated at a reported cost of £2.4 million, borne by the taxpayer, for the young royal couple.
Harry and Meghan have faced ridicule in the UK and even the US since their Netflix series, where they ironically complained of too much media attention, and the publication of Harry's memoir Spare.
Satirical adult animated series South Park lampooned them as the attention-seeking 'Prince and Princess of Canada' in a recent episode, leading to reports that the royal couple would sue the show's creators.