The King is poised to axe security for his younger brother, Prince Andrew, according to media reports.
The Duke of York’s private security has been funded by the King after he lost publicly-funded police protection in 2022.
According to The Sun on Sunday, the 10 members of the security detail have been told their services will not be needed from November.
“Everyone is speculating this means the duke will have to leave the Royal Lodge, because what other reason could there be to take his security away?” a palace insider told the British tabloid.
Sources added: “It isn’t a secret that the King wants him out.”
The Sun said the King and Prince Andrew were staying at the royals’ Scottish retreat, Balmoral, this weekend.
Pressure on Andrew continues to mount after the unsealing of hundreds of pages of court documents connected to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Earlier this year, it was reported Andrew refused an offer to move out of Royal Lodge into nearby Frogmore Cottage – once home to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
He was said to have signed a 75-year lease on the mansion in 2003, after the death of the Queen Mother, who had lived there for years.
Under the lease, Andrew also has a responsibility to cover costs to “repair, renew, uphold, clean and keep in repair and – where necessary – rebuild” the home.
In January, reports suggested Prince Andrew would have to fund the multimillion-pound security costs at Royal Lodge himself if he wanted to stay in the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park.
The 19th-century home – which has seven bedrooms, a conservatory, large drawing room and saloon – has been under the King’s ownership since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, live in separate wings of the mansion, despite their divorce in 2008.
“Andrew and I, we’re the happiest divorced couple in the world – extraordinary, really, isn’t it?” the duchess once told USA Today.
“We live in the same house, but then, it’s a big house, so that’s OK. But I think it’s really good that we believe in compromise and communication and compassion. And family.”
Andrew is said to want to leave the house to his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, to occupy for the remaining years of his lease after his death.
A batch of legal papers released earlier this year detailed how Epstein’s former housekeeper Juan Alessi claimed the duke had daily massages when he spent “weeks” at the paedophile financier’s Florida home.
Alessi, who worked at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence, said the duke and duchess were friends with Epstein and the now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Previous allegations Andrew sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre three times when she was 17 including during an orgy resurfaced in the court documents.
He strenuously denies the claims and in 2022 paid millions to Giuffre to settle a civil case out of court, saying he never met her.
Britain’s Metropolitan Police said no new investigation had been launched.
-with AAP
Live News
