Princess Beatrice could soon have her mother, Sarah Ferguson, living at the end of her garden with reports suggesting a move to the Cotswolds is imminent for the former duchess.
Sarah Ferguson has lived at Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate for the last two decades, sharing the thirty room royal residence with her former husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
However, both are now set to move within weeks after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor surrendered the lease on the property after renewed controversy around his friendship with convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
The King’s brother is expected to relocate to a cottage on the Sandringham estate, provided for him by Charles III.
(Picture by Stephen Lock / i-Images)
The Norfolk estate is owned privately by King Charles rather than by the Crown.
The new home of Sarah Ferguson remains a mystery but the latest reports, in the Daily Mail, are that her elder daughter, Princess Beatrice, is preparing the granny flat at the Cotswolds home she shares with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and their family.
Beatrice and Edoardo live in a six bedroom home in the heart of the Cotswolds with their children. They have two daughters together while Edoardo has a son from a previous relationship. Sienna Mapelli Mozzi, who is 4, and her little sister, Athena, 10 months, could soon have their grandmother on hand all the time to help look after them and their stepbrother, Wolfie.
Sarah’s other daughter, Princess Eugenie, currently divides her time between England and Portugal along with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, and their sons, August, 4, and Ernest, 2.
It’s not yet known whether Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, will take their families to Sandringham for Christmas where King Charles and Queen Camilla will host the royals for the traditional festive celebrations.
Neither Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor nor Sarah Ferguson will be at the royal Christmas. In 2024, Eugenie wasn’t present but Beatrice did attend after having to cancel her plans to go to Italy with her family at the last minute after doctors advised her not to travel in the final stages of her pregnancy with Athena.
It’s also not know whether either princess will join the Royal Family at the Christmas celebration being held at Westminster Abbey in the coming days by the Princess of Wales. Both Beatrice and Eugenie have attended in the past.
(i-Images/ Pool)
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor announced in October that he would no longer use the title of Duke of York which he had been given by Queen Elizabeth II in July 1986 when he married Sarah Ferguson. However, just weeks later, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles would make decisive moves to permanently take away the title.
Within days, The King had written to the Lord Chancellor asking for the title of Duke of York to be removed from the Roll of the Peerage. Andrew also lost his titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh.
King Charles also issued Letters Patent removing the HRH and Prince that his brother had held from the moment of his birth in 1960.
Buckingham Palace announced that the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip would henceforth be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Since then, Andrew has only been seen briefly in public, while out riding at Windsor. It’s understood his move from Royal Lodge will take place within weeks.
It’s not know what will happen to the property which was once the home of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Andrew had lived at it on a peppercorn rent since 2003 and that arrangement caused further anger.
Sarah Ferguson has made no public comment on her future since making it known that she had decided to give up her courtesy title. The removal of Andrew’s title from the Roll of Peerage means that her courtesy title, given to her when she divorced, is no longer available for use.
The titles of Beatrice and Eugenie are unchanged as they were HRH and Princess because of the 1917 Letters Patent issued by King George V which bestow that honour on all children of a Monarch and all their grandchildren in the male line, that is all the children of a Monarch’s sons.
It’s thought that these rules will be changed in the near future in line with equality – at the moment, the children of a Monarch’s daughters are not made HRH and Prince or Princess.
