Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson won’t be kicked out of their Royal Lodge home as she undergoes cancer treatment — despite questions swirling over whether they can afford to live there, sources have told Page Six.
The royal exes have been living at the grand house near Windsor Castle, outside London, since 2003, when Andrew signed a 74-year lease on the 30-room property.
However, plans for them to move into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s old home, Frogmore Cottage, have been put on the back burner to allow the Duchess of York — otherwise known as Fergie — time to recover from grueling surgery for breast cancer, royal sources told us.
A friend confirmed that Fergie, 63, had undergone a nearly eight-hour mastectomy after being diagnosed with cancer during a routine mammogram. It’s not yet known what further treatment she will face.
“She is resting at home,” said the friend: “It was major surgery.
“She’s had lots of support, both her daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, are being very supportive, as is Andrew.”
However, the friend said that reports that Eugenie, who’s currently living in Frogmore Cottage with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, their son August, 2, and their newborn son Ernest, had practically moved into Royal Lodge to care for her mom were wide of the mark.
“She’s got her new baby to look after,” said the friend.
Andrew, 63, who was left disgraced and without any official duties or income after paying a multimillion-dollar settlement to Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, is believed to be refusing to leave Royal Lodge.
He does not appear to have enough income to cover the combined rent and upkeep of the home, which is owned by the Crown Estate, a for-profit company which runs all the property owned by the monarchy, at arm’s length from the King.
But Charles does pay for Andrew’s personal security, and Royal Lodge is outside the secure zone around Windsor Castle.
In a cost-cutting reshuffle, the King, 74, had lined up Frogmore Cottage, which is smaller and inside the secure zone, for his brother after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle handed back the keys.
As Page Six reported last month, sources denied chatter that King Charles actively wanted to throw his brother and his ex-sister-in-law out of Royal Lodge.
As a royal source said: “Charles is not chucking Andrew out, but Andrew will have to find the money to look after the property himself — and where is that coming from?”
Therefore, the source said, it does make sense for Andrew and Fergie to move into Frogmore, which is significantly smaller and cheaper to run. It would also cut the King’s personal expenditure on Andrew’s security.
Meanwhile, the Fergie friend said she is keen to get back to hosting her podcast, “Tea Talks with the Duchess & Sarah,” which she co-hosts with Sarah Thomas.
“She records it from home, and I know she’d like to thank everyone for their messages, and her doctors and nurses, sooner rather than later, she was lucky to get some excellent treatment,” the friend said.
In the most recent episode of her podcast, Fergie told how she only went to get her mammogram after her sister Jane pushed her to go.
“I’m gonna go out there and get super fit and super well, super strong,” she said. “And if I have to shout about this from the top of the mountains, then I’ll shout about it. Because I think it’s vital that we need to wake everybody up to go screen, not just breast cancer. I’m talking prostate and all the checks.”
