Latest news with #FrogmoreCottage
News.com.au
a day ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Rumbling dispute' over Queen's $57m Royal Lodge mansion
Prince Andrew is reportedly locked in a 'rumbling dispute' over his future at his home, Royal Lodge, Charles, 75, is said to have wanted Andrew out of the house for years and has urged his scandal-hit sibling to relocate to Frogmore Cottage, a smaller, more modest home recently vacated by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The Duke of York, who moved into Royal Lodge in 2004, has refused to move, after taking on a 'cast-iron lease' that lasts until 2078. He currently resides at the 30-room mansion with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. According to The Daily Mail's Ephraim Hardcastle, a disagreement has emerged over who funds the external repairs needed at the mansion. 'It appears that Andrew, who paid upwards of £7.5 million ($A15.5 million) on renovations when given a 75-year lease in 2003, has maintained the interior but there is a rumbling dispute about who is responsible for extensive external repairs to the 30-room mansion,' Mr Hardcastle wrote in his column. 'Andrew should be safe until 2028. He is entitled to a partial rebate on his outgoings if given the order of the boot at the end of his first 25 years of his lease.' Royal Lodge reportedly requires around £5 million ($A10.3 million) a year to maintain. While Andrew has remained determined to stay in the property, it is thought it would require 'a substantial financial commitment each year'. Robin Edwards of property buying agent Curetons told The Mirror that the cost of maintaining Royal Lodge will have 'grown significantly since then with time and inflation'. 'Staffing alone would be a significant expense, as the estate would likely employ a house manager, housekeepers, butlers, chefs and maintenance workers, easily costing between £350,000 (around $A726,000) and £500,000 ($A1.03 million) annually, ' he said. 'In addition the gardens would demand constant attention from a dedicated team of around four to six full-time gardeners, adding another £150,000 ($A300,000) to £250,000 ($519,000) to the yearly budget.' He added: 'Utility bills, including heating, electricity and water for a mansion of this size, could easily exceed £200,000 ($A415,000) annually. 'Gardening and landscaping would require meticulous care, with formal gardens, lawns, pathways and trees needing constant upkeep, costing between £100,000 ($A207,000) and £200,000 ($A415,000) annually. 'Insurance and taxes would also take a hefty slice, with the building itself, contents and public liability insurance adding around £50,000 to £100,000 ($A207,000) per year. 'Additionally conservation and restoration efforts to maintain strict heritage rules and standards could add another £100,000 ($A207,000) to £200,000 ($A415,000) per year.' Andrew stepped down as a working royal before being stripped of his titles by the late Queen, following being linked to American financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Last year, Charles cut Andrew's annual personal allowance — reported to be around $2 million — which previously helped offset the financial burden of managing the $57 million property. Back in February, Andrew faced eviction calls after it emerged that he held a business meeting with China's ambassador to the UK just days before his links to an alleged Chinese spy became public. According to reports, the duke has spent over $14.1 million on repairs and renovations over the years and $1.5 million to take it over. His annual rent is a reported $530,000. The Sunday Times reported the king did not renew the contract for Andrew's private security team. The monarch had been paying for Andrew's security after the prince lost his police protection in 2022. The security team is said to cost the king nearly $6.3 million annually. At the time, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told Fox News Digital that the palace would not comment on 'security matters.' The Sunday Times previously reported that Andrew had raised enough money to stay in Royal Lodge. According to the outlet, the prince's funds were approved by the Keeper of the Privy Purse as coming from 'legitimate sources.'
New York Post
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Meghan Markle was ‘very rude' to a royal gardener and Queen Elizabeth spoke directly to duchess about it: report
A royal relationship that didn't take root. Meghan Markle was 'very rude' to a gardener working on the grounds of Windsor Castle during her time as a senior member of the royal family, prompting the late Queen Elizabeth to intervene, a royal author claimed in a resurfaced interview. Historian Hugo Vickers made the allegation months ago while discussing a report from last September, in which one of the Duchess of Sussex's former staffers claimed she made those in her employ 'feel like s—.' Vickers, 73, said he 'wasn't surprised.' 7 Queen Elizabeth II, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex watch a flypast to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on July 10, 2018 in London, England. Getty Images 7 Meghan Markle was 'very rude' to a gardener working on the grounds of Windsor Castle during her time as a senior member of the royal family, prompting the late Queen Elizabeth to intervene, a royal author has claimed. Getty Images for Project Healthy Minds 'Well I'm afraid I'm not surprised by these allegations because even when she was at Windsor I remember hearing from very good sources that there was trouble,' the 'A Royal Life' author told The Sun. 'There was a time when she was very rude to one of the under gardeners at Windsor when they were at Frogmore Cottage,' Vickers alleged. 'The head gardener went to complain to the Queen and she ticked her off because she obviously didn't like people being rude to staff,' he further claimed. 'None of these other stories surprised me. She probably is not very good with staff or people that she's employing. It's just very unattractive.' 7 'Well I'm afraid I'm not surprised by these allegations because even when she was at Windsor I remember hearing from very good sources that there was trouble,' the 'A Royal Life' author told The Sun. POOL/AFP via Getty Images 7 'There was a time when she was very rude to one of the under gardeners at Windsor when they were at Frogmore Cottage,' Vickers alleged. AFP via Getty Images 7 'The head gardener went to complain to the Queen and she told her off because she obviously didn't like people being rude to staff,' Vickers (pictured) further claimed. Getty Images Vickers continued, 'You should always be very polite to people who work for you because otherwise they're going to get very put out.' The Post has reached out to representatives for the Duchess of Sussex and for Buckingham Palace. The Palace has not previously addressed or substantiated the rumors. Meghan, 43, has long faced allegations that she mistreated former staffers. 7 Meghan, 43, has long faced allegations that she mistreated former staffers. Shortly before she and Prince Harry, 40, gave their infamous Oprah interview in 2021, it emerged that she had been accused of bullying aides at Kensington Palace during her tenure in the Firm. Former Kensington Palace Communications Director Jason Knauf — who handled PR for Meghan, Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton for a time — recently stood by allegations he made in leaked emails from 2018 that the 'the Duchess was able to bully two PAs' out of their jobs. 'I wouldn't change anything,' Knauf told '60 Minutes Australia' in February. 7 Meghan Markle and Prince Harry being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on CBS, Sunday, March 7, 2021. A spokesperson for Meghan and Harry denied the bullying allegations when they emerged in 2018 and said the leaking of Knauf's correspondence was part of 'a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation.' The couple have similarly refuted claims that the Duchess of Sussex is a ''Mean Girls' teenager' and a 'dictator in high heels' who has reduced 'grown men to tears.' While Meghan has confessed that she can be 'particular,' she has also blasted the 'angry black woman myth.' 'You're allowed to set a boundary. You're allowed to be clear. It does not make you demanding,' she said on an October 2022 episode of 'Archetypes.' 'It does not make you difficult. It makes you clear.'
