Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor seemed determined not to let his Easter snub get him down as he was appeared to be all smiles while driving in the Royal Sandringham estate
Ex-Prince Andrew doesn’t have much to smile about these days but on Bank Holiday Monday something appears to have raised his spirits.
The disgraced royal’s grin appeared despite being left out of the Royal family’s Easter gathering just 24 hours earlier. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, 66, was snapped driving on the Sandringham Estate on Bank Holiday Monday, heading towards his temporary lodgings of Wood Farm.
Since his eviction from the 30-room Royal Lodge, in Windsor after living there 21 years, Andrew has been at Wood Farm.
Over the weekend he was also seen making a short drive to Marsh Farm, where he met Sandringham estate manager Edward Parsons about his move there.
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Wood Farm is a secluded property used as a royal “retreat” that once served as Prince Philip’s home while Marsh Farm is a former empty farmhouse which has been undergoing renovations.
Andrew was due to take up residence this weekend at Marsh farm but was said to be ‘dragging his feet’. Last week his youngest brother, Prince Edward, became the first royal to visit him in exile, to have a ‘quiet word’ about Andrew moving into his permanent home on the Sandringham Estate.
The disgraced former prince has been expected to take up residence at five-bed Marsh Farm, this weekend but on Monday it appeared he had still not moved as he was snapped driving towards Wood Farm.
New security fences have been erected, with a Sky TV engineer seen installing television and broadband services. Royal sources have confirmed that the King has met the refurbishment costs himself due to his brother’s wrecked finances.
Prince Edward normally stays at Wood Farm with wife Sophie, during Easter but they had to stay in the main house at Sandringham because his brother was still in residence.
The Duke of Edinburgh was the first of the royals to see Andrew in two months as the former prince reportedly had been avoiding everyone since he was kicked out of 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor in February.
He has been stripped of his titles over his links with US paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has vigorously denied any wrongdoing in his contact with Epstein.
Both Andrew and his ex wife Sarah Ferguson and daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie appear to have been laying low ever since. And all were absent from the royal family’s Easter gathering at the weekend in Windsor.
Andrew, 66, wearing a casual open necked yellow shirt under a jumper, was driving on the estate in an unwashed car, with bird mess on the driver’s window.
The day before Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three children, George, 12, Charlotte, 10, and Louis, 7, were all smiles while attending St George’s Chapel in Windsor without Andrew.
Cheers were heard as Prince William and Catherine led their children, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, into the chapel for the first time in three years.
As they walked, Princess Charlotte waved to the crowds of people watching on. The Wales’ missed the service last year as they decided to go on a family holiday to Norfolk, and skipped the year before as it came shortly after Catherine’s cancer diagnosis.
Princess Anne joined, accompanied by husband Sir Tim Laurence, as well as Prince Edward and his family. The King and Queen arrived last and one onlooker was heard shouting “God bless the King”.
Documents released by the US Department of Justice in January showed close emails between Andrew and Epstein along with images. The former Duke of York, who was stripped of his royal titles in October, denies any wrongdoing.
