Ex-Prince Andrew Has Staffers Refusing to Serve Him at Sandringham Because He Is “a Total Pariah”

The Gist

• On February 2, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor left his home of nearly 23 years, Royal Lodge, for life at the Sandringham estate.

• According to a new report, there is “quite a list” of royal staffers who refuse to serve the former Duke of York at the Norfolk property.

• “They’ve been told they don’t have to serve Andrew or work for him if they feel uncomfortable,” a source told The Sun.

On February 2, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor—the man formerly known as Prince Andrew—left his 30-room mansion in Windsor, Royal Lodge, for the Sandringham estate, where he will eventually move into Marsh Farm on the property. Upon his arrival, though, it seems he’s not getting as warm a welcome as maybe he had hoped.

Multiple outlets are reporting that a long list of royal staffers are refusing to serve Andrew at Sandringham, with a source telling The Sun, “They’ve been told they don’t have to serve Andrew or work for him if they feel uncomfortable.”

“There is already quite a list saying ‘no thanks,’” the insider added in the report published on February 4. “There is understandably a lot of disquiet as he is now a total pariah.”

In October, Andrew surrendered his long-held Duke of York title before being stripped of all of his royal titles and privileges by King Charles at the end of the month, rendering him a commoner. Soon after, it was revealed that he and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson would both be evicted from Royal Lodge, where Andrew had lived since 2003 and Sarah had lived since 2008 (despite the former couple being divorced since 1996).

On Monday, Andrew left Royal Lodge under the cover of darkness following more damaging revelations about him coming out in the latest batch of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Epstein files, this crop released on January 30. As Marsh Farm continues to undergo renovations, Andrew is reportedly temporarily living at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, a favorite spot of his late father’s, Prince Philip. A source told People that Andrew wanted Wood Farm in the first place, telling the outlet that “It’s a place he has long preferred and wanted to return to, rather than Marsh Farm, which is viewed as far more exposed.”

In addition to staff not wanting to serve him, People reported that Andrew is also getting a difficult reception from his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who “are pretty torn because they believed [their father],” veteran royal biographer Robert Jobson said. “Just like the late Queen [Elizabeth] and Charles, Andrew told them all the same story—that he had done nothing wrong. My understanding is they feel pretty duped by the whole thing.”

“I do think they believed their father, and now it has all backfired,” Jobson added. “I know that Eugenie, especially, has found it very difficult.” Jobson said that the sisters “are older and mothers themselves now and will be thinking this is appalling. They have always been very defensive of their mother. There’s a sense that they would put an arm around their mom, but dad will be left to get on with it.”

“I have sympathy for them,” Jobson added of Beatrice and Eugenie. “It’s not their fault who their parents were associated with.”

As for Andrew’s new life at Sandringham, not everybody made the trip with the former Duke of York to the Norfolk property. “People who have been with him for years are off,” the source told The Sun, adding that Andrew’s staff didn’t want to move to “the middle of nowhere.”

“It will likely be a skeleton staff at best,” the insider continued. “It’s possible for the first time in his life he will have to open the front door to people himself.”

Of his new life at Sandringham, a source told The Telegraph, “It’s going to be a lonely life for him. It’s a working farm, so there are always people around—but they are staff, and he’s not someone who has a track record of being friendly with servants.” The insider added that Sandringham “does have a certain beauty, but life will be bleak for him.”

A former member of royal staff added, “Maybe he will have a housekeeper, but he’s going to have to learn to fend for himself. He will certainly have plenty of time to learn domestic skills, as well as plenty of time for contemplation.”

Read the original article on InStyle