Prince Andrew 'refusing to give up Beatrice and Eugenie's inheritance' as feud with King Charles escalates

Reports this weekend claimed King Charles was cutting funding for his private security detail.

King Charles’s team is understood to have briefed extensively this year that they want Andrew to vacate the property, which is thought to be earmarked for Prince William and Princess Kate.

Andrew’s side has let it be known he has no intention of moving out and pointed out that he has a 75-year lease on the property.

A longtime friend of Andrew’s said: "It’s very sad that Charles, who has a house for every day of the week, can’t just let Andrew have the quiet enjoyment of his own home.

"Charles has always been jealous of Andrew and to many of us who know him, and the history of their relationship, the endless briefing to the media about Royal Lodge feels childish.

"Andrew knows he f***ed up, he has taken his medicine, he has done everything that has been asked of him, he has given up his military associations, his charities, his lobbying but he is not going to give up his kids’ inheritance and move into Harry and Meghan’s old yoga studio."

They continued to tell The Daily Beast: "If Charles doesn’t want to pay for security, Andrew will be quite happy to rely on protection from the police, like every other citizen in the country."

Another friend of Andrew’s said: "He doesn’t have anything in his life except Royal Lodge. Why take that away?"

A third commented: "He likes beetling around the estate and getting the gutters cleaned and the drains unblocked. I think to take that away from him could be counterproductive, because what would he actually do all day? Write his memoirs?"

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Author Andrew Lownie, who is currently writing a biography of the duke, said: "Andrew can quite easily afford to pay for his own security.

"He inherited a trust fund from the Queen Mother and he is still doing very good business in the Middle East.

"He made a lot of contacts as a trade ambassador and he is now calling in the favours.

"He has plenty of rich friends and benefactors. Charles is trying to act tough with his brother, who he always had a rivalry with, but it doesn’t seem to me a clever fight to pick, because Andrew has a lease with the Crown Estate, he has lived there for a long time, and he has plenty of money."