Sarah Ferguson’s Mayfair home “does not address the Prince Andrew issue,” according to a royal commentator who spoke exclusively to GB News.
The Duchess of York’s vacant £4 million central London residence has raised questions about whether she and Andrew might relocate from Royal Lodge amid their ongoing dispute with King Charles.
As Andrew struggles with the King over the future of his Windsor residence, Fergie has become part of the controversy after neighbours reported that the house remains unoccupied.
The two-bedroom Georgian property is situated in Belgravia, close to the homes of their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
Royal commentator Gareth Russell discussed with GB News whether Andrew and Sarah could realistically move into the Mayfair property amidst their conflict over Royal Lodge.
He said: “Certainly, the Duchess of York could live safely and comfortably at the home, and her daughters and grandchildren could visit her there and stay there very regularly.
“However, the security for Prince Andrew will always be a factor.
“Moving someone like Prince Andrew, who is a brother of the monarch and also a very controversial public figure, into a private residence in the centre of one of the busiest cities in the world, is not something that can feasibly be undertaken unless there is a security presence there.
“Plus, that doesn’t really solve the problem of how to keep Andrew safe without making him a burden to the taxpayer.
“There doesn’t seem to me to be any way in which Prince Andrew can relocate into Mayfair or any part of London without substantial security that either he pays for himself, which he won’t be able to afford for very long, or is paid for by the taxpayer.
“And whatever one thinks of Prince Andrew, certainly, he is an immensely controversial figure.
“Frequently in polls, he is the least popular member of the Royal Family by quite a distance.”
Russell argued that the only logical place to move the Duke of York is to Frogmore Cottage, the former UK base of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
He added: “Prince Andrew is also the brother of the sovereign, and as a result, he will be a target of terrorist threats and kidnapping, which is why the safest thing for him to do is to go into Frogmore, because it’s within the Windsor security court, which means that it is within an area of Crown land that is already protected by security.
“So if he goes to Frogmore, he will be safe at no extra cost, either to the monarchy or to the taxpayer.”
