Private security guards who can only use Tasers are taking the place of Prince Andrew’s former armed protection police.
According to reports, King Charles may now personally foot the £3 million annual price for his brother’s new security squad.
It happens a year after The Duke of York, 62, had his official positions and HRH title removed after reaching a settlement with the complainant Virginia Giuffre in a sexual assault lawsuit.
He has persistently and passionately disputed the accusations and made no acknowledgment of guilt.
When asked whether Charles will now pay for Andrew’s armed security using his £24 million annual income from the Duchy of Lancaster, Buckingham Palace declined to respond to the Sun On Sunday.
On all security-related topics, the palace declines to comment.
The taxpayer-funded security detail of armed police officers who followed Andrew on all of his travels outside of Windsor, Berkshire, was his right as a working royal.
When news initially broke that he might lose the privilege, the prince was reported to be “furious.”
Norman Baker, a former Home Office minister, said Wednesday that Prince Andrew and others have traditionally seen armed security as a status symbol.
He is a private person who performs no public tasks, therefore of course he should pay it himself and avoid taxing the taxpayer.
It comes after news that Andrew finally sold his ski lodge in Switzerland to a British family for £19 million.
The Duke had been attempting to sell the seven-bedroom Verbier home since 2020 as the expenses of his civil action for sexual assault started to rise.
In 2001, when she was 17 years old, Virginia Roberts said that the late Queen’s son coerced her into having intercourse with him on three consecutive occasions.
He always refuted the allegations, and last year a settlement was reached that was estimated to be worth $12 million (£9.8 million).
In an effort to ensure that a Swiss couple with whom the Duke had a business relationship would get the alleged £1.6 million they were due, a freezing order was put on the sale of Chalet Helora, which Andrew had planned to sell sooner to assist with the expenses.
Although a spokesman for Andrew informed the Telegraph last night that “the sale of the Duke and Duchess of York’s Swiss chalet has now gone through,” it is understood that the injunction did not prevent the sale.
According to reports, the legal argument over the £1.6 million debt is still pending, and the disputed sum will be delayed until then.
The chalet has a bar, lavish entertainment space, sauna, sun deck, and indoor pool.
The French socialite who sold Andrew the home in 2014 called him a “absolute moron” in June.
Up until last year, the disgraced royal owed Isabelle de Rouvre more than £6 million for the villa.
Knowing the agony she had gone through attempting to recover the money due to her, Miss de Rouvre said she felt sorry for the couple who owed the prince money.
It was a terrible experience, she claimed. I just not comprehend how he conducts himself, and I am very sad for anybody who do business with him.
Only last year was the protracted dispute with Miss de Rouvre over the £6.6 million debt finally put to rest.
It’s actually very incredible, she remarked. He made my life so stressful, and now it’s being said that other individuals are due money as well.
‘They’re so insane,’ said Sarah and Andrew. Andrew is a complete idiot, and I don’t know how he manages to live his life.
Two years before, Miss de Rouvre had to file a lawsuit to recover the substantial cash.
In 2014, she sold Chalet Helora for £18 million to her pals Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. However, a $5 million cash payment was not made.
She agreed that it might be postponed until December 2019, with interest charged, but she afterwards accused the two of breaking their word.
In June, removal trucks from a UK company that the Queen had granted a Royal Warrant to in 1981 were observed on the property, despite the chalet allegedly having been sold months earlier.
Sources at the time stated they were taking things out on the duke’s behalf.
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