It wasn’t a quiet weekend for Andrew Mountbatten Windsor with the release of the first tranche of the Epstein files throwing his connection to the sex offender back into the spotlight
Andrew’s something of a “grinch” this Christmas. New reports over the weekend have claimed that for the first time in 20 years, the King’s disgraced brother has not even felt up to decorating his home for the festive season – even though it is the last time he will enjoy the celebrations in his opulent Royal Lodge home.
Andrew – who shares the lavish 30-room property with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson – finally agreed to give up his lease on the property in October, when his elder brother Charles unceremoniously stripped him of his royal titles.
Public outcry over Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell is yet to diminish, despite the monarch’s move to “distance” himself from the scandal. One expert believes that the trouble for Andrew and Fergie is far from over, claiming that stories and allegations about the former couple’s ties to Epstein will continue to “drip” on for some time.
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With the release of the first tranche of the so-called Epstein Files by the US Justice Department, many questions were left unanswered, but more pictures of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell – who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking – seemingly inside royal residences were included in the dump, as was a photo of the creepy Spitting Image puppet of Andrew, which was included in a claim made by Virginia Giuffre against the former prince, which he vehemently denies.
Not only did the ongoing controversy around Epstein likely mire Andrew and Fergie’s weekend, but a major update about their family’s festive plans was reported that will see the shamed pair share a pretty gloomy Christmas season indeed. It all seems to be taking its toll on the former prince, who was today spotted looking particularly downbeat as he drove his Range Rover out of Royal Lodge…
Christmas snub
Andrew and Fergie won’t be joining King Charles at Sandringham for the royal’s traditional Christmas celebrations this year. The last time the pair attended was in 2023, but last year, when controversy surrounding Andrew’s ties to an alleged Chinese spy emerged, they stayed away.
Princess Beatrice went ahead and spent the festive season with her uncle and other royal relatives in Norfolk, but this year she has reportedly decided to give both options a wide berth, instead jetting off on holiday with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and some pals, to avoid having to pick a side. The Sun reports a friend of the Princess as saying, “Beatrice doesn’t want to cause any embarrassment and was torn between loyalty to the King and her parents.”
The source added that Beatrice was conscious that going either to Norfolk or her parents’ home in Windsor could bring some awkward optics. “It was easier to go off with friends,” a source said.
Beatrice and her sister Eugenie did make sure to carve out some time with their royal relatives, attending the big Christmas lunch the monarch hosts each year in London with the entire extended family last week. The sisters were spotted dressed up and grinning broadly on their way to the family get together, whilst Andrew enjoyed a moody horse ride near his Windsor home, leaving one expert to claim that he might be making them feel a little “guilty”.
Another expert, Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, told the Mirror that Andrew was “clearly sending out a message,” with his downcast horseriding. “He is beginning to try and play the victim too,” the expert said. “It’s a weird thing, because I think most children would stick with them, however awful their parents are, would stick with their parents and spend Christmas with them.
“But I think Beatrice didn’t do that last year. She went to Sandringham, so she knows which side her bread is buttered on. So I think we are going to see the fracturing of this supposedly very close family.”
However, the Sun reports that Beatrice was pretty “tormented” when it came to making her Christmas plans, as is her sister Eugenie, with the pair looking to “avoid embarrassment”. Eugenie is reported to be planning to spend the day elsewhere with her husband Jack Brooksbank.
‘Ramshackle’ new home
It has been reported that Andrew will be moving to Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate when he finally hands back the keys to Royal Lodge. King Charles owns the 20,000-acre Norfolk estate privately, but Marsh Farm will be a serious step down from the mansion Andrew currently occupies.
Royal expert Jennie Bond told the Mirror that the five-bedroom property might need some renovations, but it boasts its own grounds, and is a “pleasant” place to live. “Marsh Farm appears to be a perfectly pleasant old farmhouse, set in its own grounds,” she said. “Apparently it will need a fair bit of work, but if that’s true, it will undoubtedly be done at the King’s own expense.”
About seven miles from the main house on the estate, it is a former working farm, and the no-fly zone around the King’s estate has reportedly been extended to include the property that Andrew might occupy. The Sun reports it is a “ramshackle” collection of buildings and is surrounded by a bog.
Creepy puppet emerges in Epstein files
A puppet that was part of an allegation by Virginia Giuffre appeared in a photo included in the document dump this weekend, which saw the US Justice Department release thousands of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein. The latex Spitting Image puppet of Andrew was spotted in the background of a photo taken of Maxwell wearing a flight suit, seemingly in Epstein’s New York mansion.
Giuffre alleged that Andrew once used the puppet to “grope” her breast when she was 17 as well as that of Johanna Sjoberg, who was 21, whilst they were in the study at Epstein’s $60 million property in Manhattan.
In her book, she wrote, “When Andrew cupped my breast with a doll made in his image, I only giggled away”. Andrew denies all the allegations against him made by Giuffre, which include that she was forced to have sex with him three times when she was a teenager.
Other photos of Andrew and Fergie appeared in the document dump, though appearing in photos or being named in the files is not a sign of wrongdoing. In one image, Andrew grinned widely as he lay across the laps of women, appearing to be in the saloon at Sandringham with Maxwell standing behind them. Another image showed Maxwell and Epstein in the countryside at Balmoral.
