King Charles is eliminating some major financial ties to his brother Prince Andrew, a new book claims.
In an updated version of his book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, author Robert Hardman writes that the King instructed the Keeper of the Privy Purse to remove Prince Andrew’s £1 million annual personal allowance and to stop paying for his personal security, per an excerpt covered by The Daily Mail.
The allowance equates to $1.3 million, and Prince Andrew’s personal security detail was also in the seven figures, according to the outlet. A source said, per The Daily Mail, that Prince Andrew was “no longer a financial burden on the King.”
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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According to the outlet, Hardman’s biography on the King is being released with three new chapters on Nov. 7. They are set to include additional information about King Charles’ relationship with the Duke of York after rising to the throne.
In the updated book, Hardman writes that Prince Andrew must now pay for the protection of historical art, furniture from the Royal Collection and several antiques after he reportedly did not accept a proposal to relocate from the Royal Lodge in Windsor to the “considerably smaller property” of Frogmore Cottage, The Daily Mail reported. (The residence, which is located about three miles away from Royal Lodge, is the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who had been asked to vacate in 2023.)
Prince Andrew holds a lease to the Royal Lodge, where he moved to in 2003 and spent over $9 million on repairs and renovations to, according to The Times. The Duke of York paid over $1 million to take over the property, per the outlet, and pays an annual rent of about $337,000.
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“The Duke had certainly been faring better than expected since his brother succeeded to the throne,” Hardman writes in the new book excerpt, per The Daily Mail. “He continued to enjoy access to Windsor facilities and a living allowance which, according to a well-sourced newspaper article, amounted to £1 million annually.”
“The cost of the private security contract to guard the property, which sits outside that Windsor cordon, was running at what one insider called ‘a substantial seven-figure sum annually’. In August it was widely reported (and not disputed) that the King was no longer prepared to renew that contract beyond the autumn of 2024,” he continues.
Per the excerpt, the Duke of York could “find the private security bill prohibitive” had it become his responsibility. It was added that if he had continued to reside at the Royal Lodge in Windsor and rejected “the King’s offer of Frogmore Cottage,” then he was told King Charles “would feel no obligation to continue paying even his day-to-day living allowance.”
“In the late summer of this year, that patience ran out,” Hardman wrote, per The Daily Mail.
“The Duke informed the monarch that, regardless of any ultimatum, he was going to stay put at Royal Lodge anyway,” he added. “At which point, the Keeper of the Privy Purse (the monarchy’s finance director) was instructed to sever his living allowance.”
Citing sources, the author also wrote that the outcome of the ordeal has “been a mixed blessing,” given that the matter is “resolved.” Still, he said that Prince Andrew’s stance has “soured family relationships yet further.”
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The Sun reported in August that King Charles did not renew the security team for Prince Andrew for when their contract expired this fall. Per the outlet, he had been paying for Prince Andrew’s security at Royal Lodge after Prince Andrew lost his police protection in 2022.
The airing of a 2019 Newsnight interview led to Prince Andrew stepping back from public duties, before the late Queen Elizabeth stripped her son of his military titles and patronages amid Virginia Guiffre’s civil sexual assault lawsuit. The legal action has since been settled and Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
The Sun and The Times reported at the time that the security was estimated to cost King Charles nearly $4 million annually.
A source previously told The Times that Andrew was “taking longer than desirable to recognize the reality of the situation, even though it is clearly the most sensible course of action,” regarding a relocation.
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