Once accustomed to motorcades, banquets and lavish foreign trips, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is now living a tightly managed existence on the Sandringham estate, largely out of sight, and in practical terms, under the watchful authority of his elder brother.
The eighth in line to the throne was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office and later released under investigation by Thames Valley Police – a status that carries no curfew, no electronic tag and no court-ordered restriction on his movements. On paper, he is free.
In reality, his world has shrunk to a cottage in Norfolk.
He is not thought to have left Wood Farm since 19 February, when he was driven back there after 11 hours of police questioning at a nearby station. As he waits to see if the police will take further action, he is still expected around Easter to move into nearby Marsh Farm, a five-bedroom house on the King’s privately owned 20,000-acre estate.
Media stake out an entrance to Wood Farm on the royal family’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk (Photo: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)Royal sources say the King wants his brother kept firmly out of sight. Reports, not denied by Buckingham Palace, suggest Mountbatten-Windsor has been told he cannot leave the estate without permission and a chaperone, and that visitors must be approved in advance. It is Palace discipline rather than police bail – but the effect is similar.
In some respects it looks even tighter than the court-ordered house arrest of his friend Jeffrey Epstein in 2009. Tagged and confined to his Palm Beach mansion after serving time for soliciting a minor, Epstein was allowed out during the day and even travelled to New York and his private Caribbean island with the blessing of probation officers.
Andrew, by contrast, appears almost entirely isolated. There has been no sign of his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, or their young families visiting him at Wood Farm. The princesses, who became the centre of his private life after he stepped back from official duties in 2019, are understood to be keeping their distance. There are no reports of any notable visitors arriving at the cottage.
His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has also kept a low profile. Friends say she does not intend to relocate to Norfolk, despite the pair having shared Royal Lodge for much of the time since their 1996 divorce. The King was at Sandringham last weekend, but unless movements were carefully choreographed to avoid the waiting press pack, it appears the two brothers did not meet.
Despite the sweep of the estate, it is threaded with public roads and footpaths and ringed by long lenses. Andrew has been advised against horse riding while photographers and television crews remain stationed nearby.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in Windsor Great Park earlier this month (Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters)Several golf clubs sit within easy reach, though it is unclear whether he will be permitted to use them. Shooting, another long-standing pastime, has become complicated after he voluntarily surrendered his gun licence following a police visit to Royal Lodge in Windsor, meaning any use or transport of firearms must now be supervised.
Photographs of him smiling and waving at tourists while riding in Windsor Great Park earlier this month are said to have hardened attitudes within the family and hastened his departure from Royal Lodge.
His domestic circle has narrowed sharply. A housekeeper, a cook and a general aide remain, alongside a team of former police officers providing protection. Otherwise, his closest companions are his dogs – two corgis that once belonged to the late Queen and several Norfolk terriers. There is said to be no room at present for his large collection of teddy bears, which have reportedly been placed in storage.
He has at least ensured high-speed broadband has been installed at Wood Farm and Marsh Farm, allowing him to indulge his long-standing enthusiasm for video games – reports suggest he enjoys Call of Duty and war games featuring helicopters.
Some within the Royal Family’s wider circle believe the regime is heavy-handed. “I think it is a bit petty not to let him go riding. It’s a private estate, after all,” one said.
Social life in Norfolk offers little distraction. The so-called Turnip Toffs among them – the Marquess of Cholmondeley at Houghton Hall, the van Cutsems at Hillborough near Swaffham, and the Tollemaches at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk – are understood to be far closer to the King and the Prince of Wales’s family than to Andrew.
“I doubt any of them will want to socialise with Andrew unless they have been encouraged to do so by the King or William,” said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine. “I can’t see that happening.”
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor denies any wrongdoing. He did not respond to a request for comment.
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