At the start of the year, it’s unlikely Andrew Mountbatten Windsor could have imagined his life would have taken the turn it has.
While he had been living as a recluse of sorts after stepping back from public duties in November, 2019, the King’s younger brother still found himself welcome in some royal circles – mainly those when the cameras weren’t around.
But now the monarch has formally stripped Andrew of his prince and other remaining titles, while also evicting him from Royal Lodge, the 65-year-old is now simply a commoner, albeit one with royal relatives.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s life will be drastically different now he is a commoner. (AP)
Andrew is now now facing a long adjustment to a life that’s sure to be completely unfamiliar to him.
Bowing to his daughters
The past few months would undoubtedly have been difficult for Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie amid the renewed scrutiny of their parents’ friendship with the convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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Andrew is now outranked by his two daughters and is likely required to bow to them when greeting them for the first time. (Getty)
But the two sisters have remained largely unscathed, retaining their membership of the House of York, their princess titles and HRH styling.
They now outrank their mother, Sarah Ferguson, and father.
Andrew and Fergie will now likely have to bow to their daughters when greeting them for the first time, in public.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman was asked about the rules during the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential podcast recently.
“He will have to bow to everybody that’s assuming he’s in the room with the rest of the family,” Hardman said.
When asked if he would be “happy” with the new formality, Hardman said: “No I don’t. I don’t think he will be in any hurry to change that sort of thing”.
Royals are only required to bow or curtsey to their superiors when greeting them for the first time that day.
‘Life will be bleak for him’
Andrew and Fergie are in the process of vacating Royal Lodge but they are not expected to leave the 30-bedroom property until the new year.
King Charles is providing a home on his private Sandringham estate, in Norfolk, but life there is expected to be very different from his current situation in Windsor.
According to a source who has spent time at Sandringham, Andrew’s life there will be “bleak”.
“I wouldn’t want to live there the whole time,” the source told The Telegraph UK.
“It’s remote, there is the wind whipping in from The Wash, it’s cold and he will be pretty much stuck there. It does have a certain beauty, but life will be bleak for him.”
Along with an allowance, the King is likely to provide his brother with some form of domestic help which could include a cleaner, cook, valet or butler.
Andrew has never had to cook or clean for himself and may find adjusting difficult.
Sandringham House is the main residence on the vast estate in Norfolk and is where the royals spend Christmas. (Getty)
A former royal household staffer told the publication: “Maybe he will have a housekeeper but he’s going to have to learn to fend for himself”.
“He will certainly have plenty of time to learn domestic skills, as well as plenty of time for contemplation.”
A royal outcast at Christmas and Easter
While Sandringham is the centre of royal life during the Christmas period, for the rest of the year the 20,000-acre estate is primarily a working farm.
The main building, Sandringham House, is open to the public at certain times of the year.
It is where the King will host his family for Christmas lunch after the traditional walk to the nearby St Mary Magdalene Church in the morning.
But Andrew is not expected to be among the royals celebrating the occasion there come December.
The royals walk to church at Sandringham on Christmas morning in 2011. Andrew is not expected to be among them in December. (AP)
He is also likely to be absent from the royal family’s Easter celebrations, which are held at Windsor Castle.
Andrew has been a fixture at the Easter Sunday mass over the years and in 2024, he lead the royal family for the short walk from the castle to St George’s Chapel in the King’s absence.
The monarch was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time, while Prince William also sat out the occasion as his wife had also been told of her own diagnosis soon before.
A new name
When Buckingham Palace announced Andrew would no longer be known as a prince, his new name was given as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, with no hyphen in the double-barrelled surname.
According to The Times, it was the name agreed with the former prince and the version Andrew preferred.
Andrew is now using the surname Mountbatten Windsor, taken from his father Prince Philip. (Getty)
But the palace is now looking at introducing a hyphen in accordance with the late Queen Elizabeth II’s wishes.
The surname, with a hyphen, was created to keep Prince Philip’s surname – Mountbatten – within the family.
Princess Anne’s marriage certificate in 1973 listed her name as Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, while Prince Harry and Meghan’s son was listed on his birth certificate as Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
A new passport
Now that he’s no longer ‘Prince Andrew’, Mr Mountbatten Windsor may have to get a new passport issued in his new name.
King Charles is the only royal who does not need a passport when travelling overseas because, as sovereign, a British passport is issued in the name of His Majesty.
All other members of the royal family, including Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales, have passports.
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