Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the royal formerly known as Prince Andrew, continues to issue firm demands and set conditions regarding his future accommodation, sources have told The Daily Beast’s Royalist. According to those familiar with the discussions, Andrew is insisting on a sizeable residence—“six or seven bedrooms”—on the Sandringham Estate, complete with a full household staff, including a cook, gardener, housekeeper, driver, and police protection.
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A friend close to him said: “Andrew has done everything that was asked of him, and he simply wants to be left in peace.”
Responding to a report in Private Eye that suggested Andrew is still negotiating the precise location of his new home on the estate, the friend added: “He is surrendering the lease of one of the finest houses in England and expects to be treated fairly.”
A former courtier told The Daily Beast: “With Andrew, these matters were always likely to come down to money. He is essentially being compensated to leave the property, so he will negotiate every detail.”
His hesitation to finalise the agreement is, reportedly, a key reason behind recent hints in the British press that Andrew may remain at Royal Lodge for several more months.
Fuel has been added to the fire by revelations that Prince Edward has, for years, paid a symbolic “peppercorn” rent for his own grand residence, Bagshawe Park.
A darker lens on Diana’s panorama interview
Three decades after it first aired, the landmark BBC interview that reshaped public perceptions of Diana, Princess of Wales, is now being cast as something far more troubling—and potentially dangerous—in a new book by former BBC journalist Andy Webb.
Webb, who spoke to the Royalist this week, is the author of Dianarama: The Betrayal of Princess Diana. He argues that Martin Bashir’s 1995 Panorama interview was not only secured through deception but also contributed to the sequence of events that led to Diana’s death in Paris less than two years later.
Had the BBC not concealed how the interview was obtained, Webb believes Diana “might not have died in the way she did.”
His investigation draws on years of reporting and thousands of internal BBC emails obtained through Freedom of Information requests.
Webb details how Bashir produced forged bank statements suggesting people close to Earl Spencer were being paid by hostile media outlets and clandestine “intelligence” groups. Shown first to Spencer, these documents “hooked” Diana, convincing her that sinister forces were closing in.
Already wary of her husband’s circle, Diana was predisposed to believe Bashir’s claims that courtiers, security staff, and even her private secretary were betraying her.
According to Webb, the Panorama interview intensified the collapse of her marriage, hastened her divorce, and influenced her decision to dismiss police protection and trusted staff—people who might have urged caution on the night she died in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel.
Inside the BBC, Webb describes whistleblowers being ignored while senior executives accepted Bashir’s explanations. A 1996 internal review even declared Bashir “honest.”
Only in 2021 did the Dyson report conclude that Bashir had acted deceitfully and that the BBC had fallen “far short” of its own standards. Webb argues that even Dyson avoided fully exposing the depth of the cover-up.
The book arrives just as the BBC faces fresh controversies and as outgoing director-general Tim Davie ends his tenure, overshadowed by successive Panorama-related scandals.
Webb, who keeps a small photo of Diana taped to his computer, poses one stark question: if the corporation could treat the world’s most famous woman this way, why should anyone else trust it?
William to miss king’s christmas lunch again amid deepening rift
Prince William will once again skip King Charles’s traditional Christmas lunch at Sandringham—the third consecutive year he has chosen not to join his father for the festive gathering, highlighting the increasingly fraught relationship between monarch and heir.
Sources told the Royalist that while William, Catherine, and their children will attend the Christmas morning church service “all smiles,” they will return to Anmer Hall afterwards rather than join the family meal at the main house.
A friend of the king has insisted there is no estrangement, but several insiders say tensions between father and son have intensified significantly over the past year.
A central point of friction is King Charles’s continued support for Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, whom he intends to keep involved in royal engagements despite the reputational damage connected to Andrew.
William, whose team is heavily focused on digital optics and modern messaging, views the king’s endorsement of the York sisters as a risky move. Charles recently granted Beatrice a high-profile patronage with the Outward Bound Trust—just days after she attended prominent events in Saudi Arabia—prompting further unease within William’s camp.
The disagreements extend beyond holiday optics.
William is particularly concerned about the opaque financial arrangements that allow Beatrice and Eugenie to maintain grace-and-favour homes in London, echoing the misleading assurances that Andrew was paying “commercial rent” for Royal Lodge—when, in fact, it amounted to a symbolic peppercorn.
This year has seen multiple flashpoints between the king and his heir.
The Royalist first reported a “very strained” relationship in August, noting William’s belief that his father’s monarchy remains overly traditional, while Charles sees William’s emphasis on family life over constant public appearances as falling short of royal duty.
William’s initial reluctance to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, and his refusal to take part in VJ Day commemorations, further widened the gap.
Beneath all this lie deeper, more emotional tensions: William’s childhood trauma, lingering resentment over his parents’ separation, and conflicting visions for the monarchy’s future.
Charles champions unremitting duty; William champions modernisation and boundaries. Their offices communicate largely through intermediaries.
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And so, for the third year running, father and son will spend Christmas Day at separate tables—a potent symbol of a royal relationship under considerable strain.
