Since 2004, Royal Lodge has been the primary residence of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who live there in their own form of seclusion and discretion. The mansion has around 30 rooms, huge living rooms overlooking the park, six outbuildings and a gardener’s residence, a symbol of another era.
Despite the shady reputation of its current occupant, the Royal Lodge remains one of the most idyllic and historic lodgings of the British Crown.
The history of the Royal Lodge begins in 17th century, when there was a humble lodge known as the Lower Lodge on the site. It was originally the home of Thomas Sandby, the Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park – the one charged with looking after the royal grounds.
In the years that followed, the residence was repeatedly renovated until, in the early 19th century, the Prince of Wales (later George IV) renamed it Prince Regent’s Cottage and later ‘King’s Cottage’. In the 1820s got its current name, «Royal Lodge». In the 1830s, King William IV completely rebuilt the mansion, except for the greenhouse.
In 1931, King George V granted the Royal Lodge to his son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, (later George VI of the United Kingdom) and his wife Elizabeth, (the future Queen). The couple loved the house and turned it into a family retreat, where they raised their two daughters, Princess (and later Queen) Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.
After the death of George VI in 1952, his widow Elizabeth chose to take up permanent residence there, turning the Royal Lodge into a symbol of personal rebirth.
The following decades filled it with memories of picnics, horseback riding and private piano concerts. It was, as she said, “the house where I could just be Elizabeth, not the Queen Mother.”
After her death in 2002, the property passed into the hands of Prince Andrew, who leased it for 75 years from the Crown Estateundertaking to spend over £7.5 million renovating it.
Despite his current difficulties and public pressure to leave, Andrew remains there, considering the Royal Lodge not just a residence, but his last personal bastion within the royal realm.
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