The former Prince Andrew has left Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle earlier than expected and is now living on King Charles III’s Sandringham estate, a change that was reported in Britain amid renewed scrutiny of his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
Thames Valley Police said it was investigating allegations that Epstein flew a second woman to Britain to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor, and the renewed attention to the relationship comes as U.S. Department of Justice documents from the Epstein investigation continue to circulate. Britain’s Press Association reported that Mountbatten-Windsor, who is now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, left Royal Lodge on Monday and moved to Sandringham in eastern England.
British media reported that he will live temporarily at Wood Farm Cottage while repairs are carried out on his permanent home on the estate. The departure was earlier than the schedule that had been described when Charles stripped him of his royal titles in October, after continuing revelations about links to Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor, 65, had lived at Royal Lodge for more than 20 years. The move to Sandringham was announced in October, but he was previously expected to remain at Royal Lodge until spring, with the latest accelerated timeline tied to developments around the Epstein case and related questions about his friendships.
The police investigation mentioned Tuesday’s allegations about Epstein bringing another woman to Britain. A lawyer for the alleged victim told the BBC that the encounter took place in 2010 at Royal Lodge.
Those allegations are separate from those made by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have sex with Andrew in 2001, when she was 17; Giuffre died by suicide last year. Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in his relationship with Epstein, and he did not respond publicly to the newer trafficking allegation.
The U.S. Justice Department documents released on Friday include material in which Mountbatten-Windsor appears. In one email dated March 23, 2011, a lawyer for an exotic dancer wrote that Epstein and Mountbatten-Windsor asked her to take part in a threesome at the sex offender’s Florida home, according to the AP report. The documents, as described by the report, also include allegations by the dancer’s legal representatives that the pair “prevailed upon her to engage in various sex acts” during an alleged early-2006 encounter after they hired her to dance.
That lawyer offered to settle confidentially for $250,000, the AP report said, and wrote that the dancer was only paid $2,000 despite a promised $10,000, according to the document. The report also described other correspondence in which Epstein appears to offer to arrange a date between a man signed only as “A” and a 26-year-old Russian woman, and in which “A” later suggested dinner in London either at a restaurant or at Buckingham Palace.
The AP report said the documents do not show wrongdoing by many of the people named, adding that the presence of famous figures reflects Epstein’s “extremely wide reach.” It also said Royal Lodge had long been a point of contention, with Charles attempting after he became king in 2022 to move his brother into a smaller house on the Windsor Castle estate.
Mountbatten-Windsor refused then, citing a lease running through 2078, according to the report. The pressure for him to leave became stronger in October as lawmakers and the public raised questions about favorable lease terms on the 30-room Royal Lodge and surrounding estate, which is managed by the Crown Estate.
By contrast, the Sandringham Estate is described as the king’s personal property, which helps explain why the change of residence shifted from a dispute over crown-managed terms to a move onto property held privately by Charles.