'He's gone. It's a matter of when, not if'... Andrew set to give up Royal Lodge home

PRINCE Andrew is understood to have caved in to increasing pressure from the King and Palace officials to vacate Royal Lodge.

- By Emily Ferguson Royal Editor

The final details of his move out of the 30-room mansion on the Windsor estate are now being ironed out, sources have said - but it is a “matter of when, not if” he will hand in the keys.

Negotiations gathered pace this week amid a public outcry over reports that he was living at the 19th-century Grade II-listed property rent-free.

Now the prince's personal standard has been removed from Windsor Castle amid growing outrage over his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The flag, which bore his personal coat of arms, had hung for nearly two decades inside St George's Chapel, marking his membership of the ancient Order of the Garter.

But it has vanished from its place in the chapel’s quire, just a week after he gave up his membership of the chivalric order.

While Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the removal, it is seen as another public distancing of the royal household from the scandal-hit prince.

Grandeur

The Palace has piled on pressure for Andrew to quit Royal Lodge voluntarily since he was forced to step down as a working royal in 2019 over his links to Epstein.

There has been growing unease about the prince continuing to live in such grandeur while being stripped of his titles and patronages.