Sandringham, deep in the rural county of Norfolk, has long been a haunted place for the royals; Andrew’s grandfather, King George VI died there. Queen Elizabeth went there every year on the anniversary of her father’s death to mourn him. His great-grandfather, George V, died there too, as did George V’s elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, who should have been king. He died of pneumonia there in 1892, aged just 28.
And Prince Philip moved to the property when he retired from public life, earning opprobrium when, aged 97, he pulled out of the estate driveway in his Land Rover and crashed into an oncoming car. Prosecutors decided not to press charges and in return he quit driving.
Sandringham is where the extended royal family have for generations gathered for Christmas.Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage
Unlike other palaces, Sandringham is entirely the private property of the royal family, which meant King Charles has been able to stash Andrew on it without seeking permission from any official British body.
The royal formerly known as Andrew was unceremoniously removed from the 30-room mansion.Shutterstock/Shutterstock
The estate was bought by Queen Victoria in 1862, just after her husband Prince Albert’s death, to try to keep her heir, the future King Edward VIII, from the carnal temptations of London when he was 20. It did not succeed: Edward became the most notoriously dissipated member of the family before Andrew’s self-inflicted disgrace. Edward turned it into the most luxurious property in Victorian England and energetically entertained friends, family and mistresses at it, but successive generations of royals have, guests have reported, not exactly kept it up to date.
Sandringham has been where generations of royals have shot game birds. It will now fall to King Charles to decide if he lets Andrew use the grounds to that end.Aaron Chown - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images
In his memoir,
Spare, Prince Harry described the big house as stuffy and overheated for the sake of the corgis, comparing it to a jail. He writes, “The cool air would make them whimper, and Granny would say: Is there a draft? And then a footman would promptly shut the window. (That loud thump, unavoidable because the windows were so old, always felt like the door of a jail cell being slammed.)”
The land around the main house is flat, damp, and crisscrossed by mudflats. In winter it is chilled by bitter winds off the North Sea. The estate has multiple small cottages and one large farmhouse, any one of which might be given to Andrew.
Andrew has been reported to spend his weekdays playing computer games and watching television and his weekends shooting.Shutterstock/Shutterstock
Andrew has been reported to spend his weekdays playing computer games and watching television and his weekends shooting. Sandringham has been where generations of royals have shot game birds. It will now fall to King Charles to decide if he lets Andrew use the grounds to that end, itself a fraught decision: Much of the estate is visible from public places, meaning people who go there to shoot can be photographed. Andrew also goes riding regularly. It is unclear if he has his own horses which would have to be taken from the Windsor stables and moved to Sandringham, or if he uses the King’s stables, in which case, even that pastime will now be in the gift of his brother.
There will be further discomfort for Andrew from the fact that his neighbor on the estate will be Prince William, who has been his most determined enemy inside the family. William and Princess Kate have their country home, Anmer Hall, on the estate, making for the awkward possibility of the two men meeting on its grounds.
Andrew's neighbor on the estate will be Prince William, who has been his most determined enemy inside the family.Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
And Andrew will have to live with the knowledge that unless he is outlived by the 76-year-old Charles, who has cancer, William will gain the keys to Sandringham the moment he is acclaimed as king, making the disgraced royal’s future even more perilous.
