Home for Andrew while thousands sleep in the open | Ownership
As you say in your editorial (31 October), “recent events point to the need for a broader reset of Britain’s relationship with its royal family.” Consider some facts. Between July and September 2025, 4,711 people were seen sleeping rough in London By outreach workers and 2,116 of these people were doing so for the first time. At last count, the king had seven palaces and 10 castles. Then there are 4.5 million children living in relative poverty.
But the monarchy has fantastic wealth. For 2025-26, the King receives a sovereign grant worth £132.1 million. The Crown Estate has assets worth £15 billion.
The King owns the Duchy of Lancaster, which at the end of March was worth £679 million and generated annual profits of £24.4 million. Likewise, the Duchy of Cornwall had assets of £1.1 billion and annual profits of £22.9 million.
Ray Street
Littleborough, Greater Manchester
She notes that the Sandringham estate is being run like a business, with vacation rentals and public access to parks and gardens (Andrew is in line for a six-figure payout and annual salary from King, sources say, on Oct. 31).
Surely, instead of giving Andrew a salary to stay in the House of Grace and Love doing nothing, the king should offer him a wage to do something useful? I’m sure the estate needs tour guides, cleaners, gardeners, gardeners, and trash pickers: good jobs on the national living wage for the common people.
The time was past, when disgraced aristocrats made amends through good deeds. Perhaps this is just the kind of therapy this disgraced former prince needs, now that solutions like banishment to the colonies have become completely outdated.
John Robinson
Deal, Kent
Since the word “folly” is derived from the Old French “folie,” meaning “madness” or “folly,” perhaps The Folly, of all the potential new homes on the Sandringham estate, would have been the most suitable choice for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (Which Sandringham Estate Is Right for a Former Prince?, October 31). The etymology of the word is the basis for the original English meaning of “foolish behaviour”, which later expanded to include notions of evil, and then later to the specific, modern use of “folly” as a large, extravagant and often aimless structure or building. Big, extravagant and purposeless? Yep, that pretty much sums it up.
Paul Goodman
(Loughborough, Leicestershire).
Your article about the house Andrew Windsor might live in could have been combined with the Fictional House Search feature in the Money section: “Best Sandringham Properties to Rent to a Disgraced Ex-Prince.”
Chris Packham
Birmingham
According to the statement released by the Royal Family, the last names of the commoner formerly known as Prince Andrew are not hyphenated, so Andrew Windsor is certainly sufficient, or just plain Windsor. It will save time, ink and patience.
Paulina Church
Manchester
Certainly the only title/honor that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be allowed to retain is probably appropriate ‘Vice-Admiral’ (Andrew will be stripped of naval title, says UK Defense Secretary, 2 November).
Lydia Woolley
Weybridge, Surrey