by The King is preparing to withdraw private funding for the security operation at the Duke of York’s home, according to reports.
The pressure on Andrew is mounting as hundreds of pages of court documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal are pouring in quickly.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment, but The Telegraph said Andrew will have to fund multi-million pound security costs at Royal Lodge himself if he wants to stay at the 30-room house in Windsor Great Park.
The move will see the monarch publicly separated from his younger brother, who less than two weeks ago walked to church with the royal family on Christmas Day.
The latest batch of legal papers detailed how Epstein’s former housekeeper claimed Andrew had daily massages when he spent “weeks” at the pedophile financier’s Florida home.
Juan Alessi, who worked at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence, said Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, were friends with Epstein and now-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Duke greeted well-wishers outside the church in Sandringham, Norfolk on December 25, with Sarah back in the royal fold and at his side.
But as the New Year began, allegations previously Andrew sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre three times when she was 17 including during an orgy resurfaced in newly published court documents.
He vehemently denies the claims, and in 2022 paid Ms Giuffre millions to settle a civil case out of court, saying he had never met her.
The Metropolitan Police said no new investigation had been launched, but Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer, the former head of the Crown Prosecution Service, said that when “credible” allegations are made they should be investigated.
Republic – the anti-monarchist group – reported the duke to Scotland Yard and is demanding a proper investigation into the allegations in the UK.
During his videotaped interview under oath in 2009, Mr Alessi was questioned about the duke’s relationship with Maxwell and Epstein.
Lawyer Katherine Ezell asked if Andrew and Sarah ever had a massage at the Florida home.
Mr Alessi replied: “Prince Andrew did.
“I think Sarah was only there once and for a short time. I don’t think she slept there. I can’t remember.
“I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.
“But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us.”
Miss Ezell then asked: “Where did he sleep?”
Mr Alessi said: “In the master bedroom, the main guest bedroom. That was the blue room.”
The lawyer then said: “And, therefore, when he would come and stay, would he massage often during that time?
Mr. Alessi replied: “I would say, daily massage.”
In another sworn interview by Epstein’s employee, who is labeled only as “the witness” in the documents, they claimed Maxwell brought the pedophile financier to England “to introduce him to royalty”.
The staff member said there were “many pictures” of the duke with Epstein at the property they were working on.
They also said they never saw the duke visit the property, but “he called”.
In a resurfaced videotaped interview with Maxwell, the disgraced socialite said she did not know how Epstein met the duke and insisted she did not introduce them.
However, Maxwell admitted that there was a Duke of York puppet in Epstein’s apartment in New York.
Johanna Sjoberg accused Andrew of groping her breasts while posing with a Spitting Image puppet of himself at Epstein’s Manhattan home in 2001.
Maxwell said she did not remember putting the caricature’s hand on Ms Sjoberg’s breast.
“It was a puppet – not a puppet – it was – I don’t know how you would describe it really… Jeffrey’s house was a caricature of Prince Andrew,” she said.
A US judge ordered hundreds of documents unsealed as part of Ms Giuffre’s already settled civil claim against Maxwell, filed in 2015.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal prison in New York, in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.
It was previously reported that the duke had been offered the much smaller Frogmore Cottage, home to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in an attempt to relocate it from Royal Lodge.
But the duke was said to have signed a 75-year lease on the mansion in 2003.
Andrew attended the coronation of the King and Queen in May, despite retiring from public life in 2019 due to his friendship with Epstein.
