This week, the Sun got some photos of “removal vans” around Royal Lodge, the home of disgraced and unroyaled Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. We’ve heard such different things about Andrew’s move out of Royal Lodge, and there were even some rumors that Andrew wouldn’t even be able to move into his new Sandringham farmhouse until mid-year. The removal vans seem to indicate that things are moving quickly now, although I wonder if renovations are being conducted AS Andrew’s crap is being packed up. In any case, the Mail’s little royal elves are now saying that Andrew will be out of Royal Lodge before his 66th birthday on February 19. Oh? That’s a lot sooner than I predicted.

Renovations on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s new home are in full swing as he is set to be kicked out of Royal Lodge before his 66th birthday next month. The disgraced royal was forced to give back his tenancy agreement for his home on the Windsor Estate when he was stripped of his prince and duke titles in October over his ties to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Workers have started renovating inside the run-down Marsh Farm at Sandringham, while six-foot wooden fences have been erected around the home to make it secure and private. A JCB digger was seen at the estate on Tuesday, and electricians were making the farm buildings habitable for the shamed former prince, including installing CCTV for extra security. At least six workmen were seen going inside the detached property, and a van from a specialist security company was also spotted at the farmhouse.

Andrew will move into a temporary, smaller property on the King’s Norfolk estate as early as the end of this month and before his 66th birthday on February 19, The Sun reports. He is set to stay there until Easter, when the work on Marsh Farm is scheduled to be finished.

‘The snow or rain hasn’t delayed the work on Marsh Farm but it still needs a lot of attention to make it habitable,’ a Palace insider said. ‘But one thing for sure is that it is a lot, lot smaller and less luxurious than Royal Lodge.’

It is believed that Andrew was keen to move to the five-bedroom cottage Wood Farm – where Prince Philip spent his retirement – but there had been some debate over whether that might mean he is ‘too close’ to the rest of the family. Andrew will instead move into Marsh Farm, which is two miles west of Sandringham House and has been empty for several years. It is understood that the farmhouse and the surrounding outhouses previously belonged to a former tenant who had died some time ago.

[From The Daily Mail]

Going purely from memory, Prince Philip adored Wood Farm and there were special renovations done to make it wheelchair accessible, modern and cozy for Philip and his special friend(s). QEII also stayed at Wood Farm with him occasionally. I believe Wood Farm is basically sitting there empty since QEII and Philip’s deaths, although in previous years, Charles allowed Andrew to stay there over Christmas. I guess my point is that Wood Farm would have been the easier solution for Andrew’s immediate needs, but the Windsors love to allow recently-renovated royal homes to sit unoccupied out of spite. It also sounds like they’re going all out to renovate Marsh Farm, which (again) looks like a perfectly lovely home. You can bet that Andrew will have full-time staffers on site as well.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.