Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ‘serene’ home was ‘another world’ behind closed doors

In the initial days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s house move, he could be enjoying the privacy of his upgraded security as he unpacks his final possessions and settles into his new surroundings at Marsh Farm.

While solitude away from the public eye remains of the utmost importance for the disgraced royal, it’s unlikely that details of the interiors will be revealed in the same way as his former home Royal Lodge, which he previously shared with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. But one thing remains likely – he’ll be seeking to create the same “serene” environment he previously enjoyed at his 30-room mansion.

The Queen Mother had lived at the grace and favour property from 1952 until her death in 2002 at the age of 101. Two years later, Andrew was granted a lease agreement by the Crown Estate.

In Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, which was released in 2023, he opened up about what the home was really like, describing it as “another world.” He penned: “It was Pa who told me [the Queen Mother] had been confined to her bed at Royal Lodge, the sprawling country house in which she’d lived part-time for the last fifty years, when she wasn’t at her main residence, Clarence House.”

Royal Lodge was three miles south of Windsor Castle, still in Windsor Great Park, still part of the Crown Estate, but like the castle it had one foot in another world. Dizzyingly high ceilings. Pebbled driveway winding serenely through vivid gardens.”

Giving up Royal Lodge

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Situated on a 98-acre estate, Andrew’s former home offered his family, including his two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, maximum privacy. He was pressured to give up his lease due to his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and he relocated to King Charles’ Sandringham estate on 2 February 2026.

Buckingham Palace’s official statement read: “His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, even though he continues to deny the allegations against him.”

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Weeks later, Royal Lodge was subjected to a police search after the former Prince was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Grand features

The Grade-II listed property featured spectacular interiors, shown off by occasional family photos, and a sprawling 21 acres of grounds, including the late Queen Elizabeth II’s life-sized playhouse. In 1932, when the Queen was six years old, the people of Wales gifted her an incredible playhouse complete with running water, electricity, a fully-functioning kitchen and bathroom, and a living room and bedroom.

Princess Beatrice previously spoke out about the childhood feature, which was renovated in 2012. “Granny and her sister played here growing up and we’ve been lucky enough to play here with cousins and second cousins and it’s a big family treat,” she told Andrew Marr in the documentary The Diamond Queen.

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“It’s the most glamorous wendy house ever, but it’s really beautiful and what you’re seeing now is after a year’s renovation process. It’s been completely rethatched, new curtains, new wiring, a bit of a spruce up really! All the little china and glass was created especially for the house.”