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Topics: Prince Andrew, Royal Family, UK News, Animals, Pets, Cats
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Prince Andrew, Royal Family, UK News, Animals, Pets, Cats
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor must follow a strict rule following his move to the Sandringham Estate after he was formally stripped of his royal titles by his older brother, King Charles III.
Such a decision came late last year as a result of mounting pressure over Andrew's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and after the backlash following the posthumous release of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, Nobody’s Girl.
The memoir gives Giuffre's account of being trafficked by Epstein and includes allegations against several other individuals, including Andrew, detailing previous claims that she was forced to have sex with the former Duke of York on three occasions, including when she was 17.
Andrew has strongly denied the allegations.
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On top of losing his titles, Andrew was also evicted from Royal Lodge, where he lived with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and will instead reside at the more modest Marsh Farm in Sandringham, which is about two miles from Charles' own Sandringham House.
Andrew had previously been paying a peppercorn rent for the Royal Lodge property.
A six-foot fence has been erected around the five-bed Wolferton abode where the disgraced father-of-two will be able to live, but he will not be allowed to own one particular animal as a pet.
The four-legged friend in question is a cat, with the rule allegedly dating back to the late Queen Elizabeth II's reign, when the former monarch reportedly banned all felines on the Sandringham Estate over fears they would wreak havoc on the chicks of game birds breeding on the 20,000-acre plot of land.
That's because any royals keen on shooting a living animal for sport prefer to target pheasants that have bred in the wild instead of bringing in birds and releasing them only to be shot moments later, per Eastern Daily Press.
However, when it comes to dogs, they are considered a 'case-by-case' situation, according to Hello! Magazine. Following Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022, Andrew and Ferguson inherited her two corgis.
After concerns were raised as to who would look after the dogs following Andrew's departure from the Royal Lodge, Buckingham Palace said in a statement: "The corgis will remain with the family."
According to the BBC, the palace said that Andrew's move would take place 'as soon as possible and practicable'.
Work is continuing to prepare Andrew's future home, with PA reporting earlier this month (15 January) that a light was on in an upstairs room of the main house and people could be seen inside the building.
Additionally, a digger was spotted working in the grounds, and a worker could be seen walking to and from an outbuilding.
The property has been empty for several years and is being renovated to make it habitable before Andrew is expected to move there, according to a report in The Sun.