A luxury £10million villa in the Middle East could become Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s preferred bolthole as pressure mounts on the former prince. The opulent surroundings are in the United Arab Emirates’s (UAE) capital Abu Dhabi, and part of a fortified complex owned by the UAE royal family.
The palatial surroundings and year-round warm weather could prove attractive to 65-year-old Andrew, who was offered the home by president Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nayhan, who he met when the pair were pupils at the prestigious Gordonstoun School. According to the Mail on Sunday Sheik Mohamed ordered the refurbishment of a private villa within the complex after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.The complex sits near the headquarters of the Emirati Navy, which could prove a sore point for Andrew as the Defence Secretary has confirmed he will be stripped of his own Royal Navy honorary rank of vice-admiral.
The Mail on Sunday reports the newly re-fitted apartment will feature six bedrooms, a home cinema, indoor plunge pool and gym surrounded by what the paper calls a “youthful and playful” interior in a “palace-style” home.
Apartments and villas in the complex, known as the Sea Palace, feature taps, light switches and lamps all decorated in gold and large kitchens staffed by top chefs.
Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, told the Mail on Sunday the plush Abu Dhabi abode would be “perfect” for Andrew.
He added: “He would be happy living somewhere where the media is muzzled, where he will still be treated as a senior royal and where he can easily live under the radar. His personal relationships with young women are not likely to be scrutinised in Abu Dhabi.”
Andrew’s brother King Charles sensationally made the decision to strip his brother of his peerages and the title of prince on Thursday amid the continuing fallout of the Epstein scandal. Andrew’s Duke of York title has already been removed from the Roll of Peerages.
Meanwhile, it has been claimed that Andrew routinely refused to sign off statements that supported survivors of abuse connected to Epstein. Charles and the Queen publicly shared their “thoughts and utmost sympathies” with “the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse” as part of the announcement.
A friend of the King and Camilla told The Sunday Times that references to victims were removed from all previous statements drafted by courtiers and issued by Buckingham Palace since Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019.
Any such communication had required Andrew’s sign-off, the paper said.
The former prince denies sexually assaulting the late Virginia Giuffre, who alleged this happened on three occasions, including when she was 17, after being trafficked by Epstein.
The friend told the paper the King had “lost patience” and his statement announcing the removal of Andrew’s prince and Duke of York titles was “no longer a statement by committee, it’s a statement from the King”.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment. Pressure is also building on Andrew to give evidence before a powerful US Congressional committee.
Members of the House Oversight Committee have called for the former prince to reveal what he knew about the actions of Epstein.
