Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s New Reported Home, Marsh Farm, Is a Boggy Exodus
There’s an entire book written about the Royal Lodge—Royal Lodge: Windsor by Helen Cathcart. It’s 189 pages long and includes 11 chapters and 16 illustrations: One, titled “Riding Time,” shows a young Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth on horses exploring the bucolic 99-acre grounds of the Lodge, where they lived from 1932 to 1936. Another, “Princesses at the Fireside,” shows the child royals resting by a roaring stone hearth. Then there’s “The Children’s Garden,” which depicts them tending to a leafy plot, an idyllic wood in the background.They’re woven through tales of its history and its colorful occupants: like King George IV, a monarch known for his extravagant fashions, Margaret and Elizabeth, who lived there before their father ascended to the throne, and the Queen Mother, who lived amongst its 30 stately rooms until her death in 2002. Cathcart also writes prolifically about its architecture—brick, with Georgian and Victorian detailing—as well as its interiors: The Royal Lodge, she notes, was known for its “superb Gothic windows.”Cathcart’s book, written in the ’60s, ends before the time of the Royal Lodge’s current occupant: Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew. Probably for the best. In her introductory author’s note, Cathcart says her book “originated as an intended entertainment for a royal lady.” And while the past tenants of Royal Lodge exuded an elegant lore for the highbrow interests of a viscountess, the Jeffrey Epstein–associated Andrew is shrouded in such scandal that if Royal Lodge had been put on the real estate market, the listing price might have knocked down a few million.Although that hypothetical will never happen. The Royal Lodge, located on the vast grounds of Windsor Castle and Great Park (which total 5,000 acres) is a property that’s owned by the monarch and given or rented (usually at a nominal rate) to family and friends of the Crown. After putting down £1 million towards the property in 2003 as well as paying for renovations, the Times of London reported that Prince Andrew hadn’t made a traditional rent payment in 20 years toward Royal Lodge. According to the lease, he’d pay “one peppercorn (if demanded).”He certainly got his use out of it. He hosted Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein at Royal Lodge in 2006, ahead of his daughter Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday—despite the fact that there was a US arrest warrant issued for Epstein a few months prior. “Certainly I wasn’t aware when the invitation was issued what was going on in the United States, and I wasn’t aware until the media picked up on it because he never said anything about it,” Andrew told BBC Newsnight. (Several years later, in 2016, reports emerged that Beatrice accidentally cut Ed Sheeran’s cheek with a ceremonial sword during a party thrown at Royal Lodge.) Andrew also had a significant amount of staff at the property.
