Andrew Windsor will have to relinquish all of his Royal Collection art pieces

In the past 72 hours, there were easily 50 major stories about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in the wake of King Charles finally deciding that “enough is enough.” In two months’ time, Andrew will vacate Royal Lodge and move to Norfolk, somewhere on the Sandringham estate, we do not know where at this moment. He will have to “make do,” we are being told, with only one or two household staffers, the poor predator sausage. He also received some lump-sum payments from King Charles, including what sounds like a generous retirement package and annuity. But one thing Andrew will not receive? He will not be allowed to bring any Royal Collection artwork with him to Norfolk!

When Andrew, the former Duke of York, advertised for a maid to help clean Royal Lodge, he gave an indication as to what treasures were contained therein. Duties for the £16,000-a-year position, which was advertised in 2011, included making beds, drawing baths in the lodge and dusting “objets d’art” and “picture frames under advice from the royal collection”.

Now, the objets d’art are set to be taken off Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s walls and returned to the Royal Collection Trust, which manages the royal collection. One of the largest and most important in the world, the royal collection has been carefully curated over the years by British monarchs. Some of the pieces are exhibited in public displays, while others are used to furnish royal residences, including Royal Lodge. The location of specific pieces is not published, however. Nonetheless, it is understood that several priceless artefacts are housed in Mountbatten Windsor’s home.

They are understood to include the 19th century oil painting Eugénie, Empress of the French and wife of Napoleon III, by Charles Édouard Boutibonne. One of the historic artefacts at the lodge is an ancient sword, which Princess Beatrice famously used in jest by pretending to “knight” Ed Sheeran at a party, accidentally cutting the musician’s face in the process. Historic photographs by Cecil Beaton are also thought to be hanging on its walls.

Within the grand saloon there are understood to be many more historic artefacts in the collection. A source confirmed that the paintings and other artefacts would now return to the RCT and Mountbatten Windsor would not be able to take royal collection masterpieces with him to his new accommodation on the King’s Sandringham estate.

[From The Times]

It’s so interesting that, as we hear more about all of the new punishments Charles is inflicting upon Andrew, people could question why Charles never thought to do any of this before now? Like, Andrew was supposedly being punished for years? Why in the world did he still have all of these special Royal Collection pieces in his home? Meanwhile, Norfolk residents are not happy that Andrew will be moving in:

Locals near the Sandringham estate have said Andrew Mountbatten Windsor is not welcome, as he prepares to move out of Royal Lodge. The Palace has not confirmed where exactly he will live, but has declined to rule out the possibility of York Cottage, which was originally earmarked for Meghan and Harry before they left royal life.

Several residents said they were unhappy about the arrangement. Susan Larkins, 70, a retired office worker from nearby South Wootton, was visiting the café at Sandringham on Friday.

She said it was “way past time” that Andrew’s titles were removed, but added: “He’s a horrible man. We don’t want him up here.”

Jackie Cruickshank, 72, a retired carer from King’s Lynn, was dog walking at Sandringham.

“He’ll be hounded won’t he?” she said, “I just hope when he does come here they don’t ruin it with all the photographers, because they’re not going to let him go are they?”

[From The Times]

Photos of York “Cottage” have been published widely and it’s not a cottage at all – it looks like a large English mansion. I hope Andrew isn’t really getting that property, but whatever. As for the locals’ anger… lol. I actually don’t believe that Andrew will be hounded. I think he’ll probably have a jolly retirement in Norfolk, riding horses and hosting shooting parties and watching TV. It’s not like he’s going to be living in the city center either? He’ll be tucked away on a private estate, paparazzi won’t be able to accost him regularly.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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42 Responses to “Andrew Windsor will have to relinquish all of his Royal Collection art pieces”

  1. ThatGirlThere says:

    Wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he sold some pieces of the royal collection. Nasty old grifter.

    • Hypocrisy says:

      My thought was those missing Crown Jewels..

      • MissF says:

        I agree, however my loathing of strangers ie Ma Mid and Princess Waity really wants those two twits to be involved in the missing £80 M of jewellery, Ma has dubious connections via her ghastly brother to fence spectacular Royal jewels to various ne’er do wells.

      • Libra says:

        @MissF; my money would have bet on Fergie. She is a spending addict and anything she can turn into a payout is fair game for her. I hope they do a thorough inventory of RL as I wouldn’t be surprised if a piece or two is missing. Many back alley ways she could have accessed that missing jewelry. She also knows enough unscrupulous people who could fence for her.

      • Mac says:

        Wallis Simpson helped herself to a lot of jewels. Some were recovered at auction after her death, but some remain missing.

  2. Dee(2) says:

    I think if they would have done this in 2022, it would have gone over better and not looked quite as cynical. It still is, and it really isn’t any sort of punishment in comparison to what his alleged crimes are, but it would have seemed more fitting. And we know ultimately that’s all that they care about, people being able to clap their hands together and say well that was a good punishment. And never think about any of the other stuff again.

    They weren’t going to do it in 2019, because they were just reacting to the bad PR of the interview not an implicit acknowledgment of guilt that giving someone a huge million pound settlement brings about. But in 2022, knowing that he paid that amount of money for “something that he didn’t do to someone he never met”, it should have followed with the title ” removal”, him leaving his house, him losing all of his honorary stuff that he still maintained, and basically an understanding that he would not be coming to anything associated with the family ever again.

    Now though, these details leaking out just seem like oh poor rich baby. You get to still live in a mansion, you still have security, you’re not going to jail, so you don’t get to use your prince title and can’t host parties on a large estate that’s filled with priceless artwork, boohoo.

  3. Amy Bee says:

    The Royal Family definitely live in a different world if anyone of them believe that Andrew is being punished. He’s still not being made to talk to the police.

    • Happy Peregrine says:

      He would not answer truthfully to any questions posed by any law enforcement or investigative agency. I’m assuming he will move from claiming not to sweat to having a legal team answer every question for him in the most opaque manner possible.

  4. 2131Jan says:

    I think Ol’ Pedo’s life will continue in exactly the same manner, just on the private estate, especially if he’s given that “cottage” (what a joke! Guess they had to take into account all the bedrooms he’ll need for his Teddy Bears).

    I also think he’ll still be at the oh, so very *special* Xmas Eve Gag Gifting at Sandringham, and in the morning, he just won’t be allowed to be in the walk to and from church. IF he goes at all (and that’s a big IF), he will be driven to a side door to be shunted in before the family comes, and then wait to be driven back after they leave, so no attention will still be on the church. Then he’ll be driven to the “big house” for their dry turkey (no spices please!) dinner.

    As Kaiser said, his life won’t change *that* much.

  5. Giddy says:

    I wondered about the art because one of the few interior shots of Royal Cottage I had seen showed magnificent, huge paintings. I guess now William and Kate can snaffle those treasures of art for their own country cottage/mansion. William will probably take them just to irritate his dear old uncle.

    • Mayp says:

      LOL, @giddy, that was my first thought – Willie and Kate want the artwork (if not the whole place)! I am still not convinced, however, that Andrew is moving into the Sandringham estate proper. I still think he’ll get a place of his own, gifted by Charles. In which Royal collection pieces would not be placed. Otherwise, William can just kick him out without a parachute when he becomes King.

      And, since when was York cottage earmarked for the Sussexes?! It had previously been offered to other senior royals who didn’t want it and was ultimately turned into offices. I don’t ever recall hearing that it had been “earmarked” for or even offered to the Sussexes.

      • Paisley25 says:

        Not sure if York Cottage was officially offered to the Sussexes or if this is just guesswork since William was given a property in Sandringham too. In Spare, Harry said they were offered several properties that were too grand/lavish and expensive to renovate before Frogmore Cottage was suggested. The Gloucester’s old KP apartment was surely one of them. York Cottage would fit his description. Forest Lodge too.

      • Mayp says:

        @paisley, if York cottage was offered it would have only been as a country home on the Sandringham estate. Just like the Waleses have both Anmer and apartment 1A at KP. I’m thinking the grand residences mentioned by Harry were for their main home. Or, as the Waleses put it, their “forever home.”

        Interestingly enough, York cottage was never considered grand by the royals I think it was George VI (or George V?) that described it as a warren of small rooms. It is my understanding there are no or few grand reception rooms. It had been offered to several senior royals as a country home at Sandringham but they all turned it down.

  6. Hypocrisy says:

    Oh the horrible punishment of not having priceless (and probably stolen) art or jewelry to decorate with.. I just can’t with this performative non punishment these royals are gaslighting us with… a jail cells also has no priceless art and they are taxpayer funded and that’s where the predator should be living..

  7. Jais says:

    Well that’s a very nice house.

  8. Mrs. Smith says:

    I clicked the link to see photos of York cottage and it goes to a wiki page that already lists Andrew as the resident?? I know it’s Wikipedia, but that’s quite a presumption, no?

    • Lucky Charm says:

      I saw that, too. Farther down the page it also says it houses the Sandringham Estate offices, and estate staff and holiday accommodations. So are they going to evict more people for a Windsor family member to move into their new forever home?

  9. Ocho says:

    This reminds me of a story The Guardian put out a while ago when they were in the midst of their “just how much are the royals worth?” aka “they are grifting grifters” series. When a visiting dignitary from another country gives the royals art (or horses or whatever), these are supposed to be considered gifts belonging to the country, similar to when a dignitary might “give” a US president or UK prime minister something of value. They don’t really get to keep it. When the president moves out, they are supposed to leave the gifted paintings etc behind. But the royals claim them as their own. The items kind of “get lost” for a bit, then reappear as ta-da part of their private collection.

    • Bqm says:

      That policy has only been in place a few decades. A huge part of the royal art collection comes from commissions from Victoria and Albert and then later royals. The Queen mother apparently liked to purchase paintings. Queens Alexandra and Mary bought or were gifted for birthdays etc faberge animals, flowers and picture frames. Most of the items aren’t gifts from heads of state. They were family gifts especially from the times when Victoria’s relations sat on most of the European thrones from Portugal and Spain to Germany, Scandinavia, Belgium and Russia.

  10. BASH says:

    Only in the BRF; a man accused of heinous crimes is given a multimillion pound settlement, a home, and security for life. The BRF and the press are both trying to convince the people that this is actually a punishment….

    Ideas for Mrs Wales to help her put that art degree to good use. Do a deep dive on the BRF’s artwork and make a documentary. For example who commissioned what, historical context of the paintings, and how the BRF came to acquire some of the pieces, like the painting of Empress Eugenie mentioned above. This would make art/ history enthusiasts happy, and you can set up mini exhibition of the rarely seen pieces. Danish and Swedish royal families have made similar documentaries (but for jewelry.)

    Princes Beatrice’s knighting/cutting Ed Sheeran is bonkers

    • Happy Peregrine says:

      This would actually be fascinating.

      As would a full accurate catalog of the stolen histories and cultures of nations world wide hidden unopened and undocumented in crates in the basement of the British museum.

    • Giddy says:

      I’m sorry, Mrs. Wales is busy, busy, busy with the country life and school runs. Although she’ll find time to choose the right painting for over her sofa. She tends to like ones with racist themes.

    • QuiteContrary says:

      Not just in the BRF, sadly.

      We have a pedo grifter in the White House.

    • Bqm says:

      That would be amazing. A lot of the artwork are portraits, as opposed to Picassos or Rembrandts, but Victoria and Edward VII had so many gorgeous Winterhalters, von Angelis, and de Laszlos. She even had Sargent paint her granddaughter the future queen of Romania as a child.

  11. Oh the horror!! Another horrific part of his punishment (not)!!! What a joke with this poor sausage is being punished hard bit. I hope the locals go out of their way to make his life as miserable as they can.

  12. ariel says:

    Unless he is being turned into the police for questioning- he’s still being protected.
    He is a common criminal, an abuser of children.

    Too bad the US doesn’t have a real FBI anymore.

  13. Kittenmom says:

    So this useless jerk needed someone to fill his bathtub? WTF. Unless the maid was also expected to perform other “services” as part of drawing baths.

  14. Over it says:

    But can he take his teddy bears?

  15. Is that so? says:

    I wonder how many of those royal treasures are stolen from around their former empire.

  16. blue says:

    Andy wants nothing to do with the villagers & townspeople so they needn’t worry. The stipend he’ll get from Chuck is surely adequate to pay for more housekeeping staff if he “needs” that.
    I do hope there’s a complete inventory of the art and objets from his move-in date until he vacates. The Cottage does look big enough to give Fergie a room in case nobody else will take her.

  17. MSJ says:

    They should return the plundered artifacts to the countries they belong to. That’s what they should do instead of piling them up in storage controlled by the royals which is what the Royal Collection Trust essentially is. 😠

    Greedy Colonialists, the lot of them.

  18. bisynaptic says:

    No looted treasures for *you*, Andy!

  19. Paisley25 says:

    While he may have to give up things from the Royal Collection, the royal family has tons of privately held artwork. I’m sure there are warehouses of things he can still use. I don’t think people are aware of how much they have (including major jewelry pieces we regularly see) that is privately owned and not part of the royal collection.

  20. therese says:

    York Cottage is beautiful. He just really is not hitting the road hard, is he.

  21. QuiteContrary says:

    If they really want to punish Pedrew (I mean, aside from doing the right thing, which would be to turn him over to Scotland Yard), they should take away his teddy bears.

  22. Bqm says:

    York cottage was the dismay of everyone who lived there except for George V who adored it. He lived in it from 1893-1925. It was a rabbit’s warren of small, dark, unconnected rooms and dead ends. George was a naval officer and loved the small rooms as they reminded him of being on ship. But Queen Mary loathed it as did Edward VIII. It was no fort Belvedere! It’s no wonder it was easily converted into offices. It would need serious renovations.

  23. Hattie says:

    “The location of specific pieces is not published”
    Translation: No one would know if he gave them up or not.

    I recall the Queen allowing Harry and Meghan to select art pieces. I wonder if they were able to keep them. It seems all of Andrew’s so-called “punishments” are just precursors to eventual revenge on the Sussexes.

    They want their titles and any artefact that is connected to the RF.

  24. Tn Democrat says:

    Everything left behind better be carefully authenticated. The Yorks deviant lifestyle wasn’t cheap and they are grifters to their core. They would pay for knock-offs to sell the originals.

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