Prince Andrew faces new Royal Lodge challenge as he 'could lose paintings and furniture'

As the disagreement over Prince Andrew's tenancy of the Royal Lodge at Windsor grumbles on, a royal expert has predicted fresh pain for the outcast Prince.

Speaking on the Palace Confidential podcast, biographer Robert Hardman has warned that even if he manages to hang on to the Royal Lodge, it may be an empty victory.

He said: "The King is very conscious that [The Lodge] is not entirely in his gift. It's a Crown Estate property and the Crown Estate ultimately answers to the government. The King can't evict him, and wouldn't want to anyway."

However, Robert says, while Prince Andrew has reportedly scraped up enough money to stay on in the Lodge, it's unclear whether he will be able to afford to adequately maintain it, and that may present him with a new problem.

Robert explains: "The Royal Collection, which owns quite a lot of the treasures inside there, may say: 'Well we can't be confident that this place is safe anymore,' and they'll start taking the paintings and the some of the furniture away."

He stresses that Prince Andrew's right to occupy the Grade II listed house, which is valued at around £30million, is questionable at best: "That's a house that has always belonged to someone who performs public duties on behalf of the nation. It always when George the Sixth lived there, when Queen Mother lived there, and Prince Andrew to begin with.

"He was performing public duties and therefore there was an obligation by the state to look after that property, to make sure it was secure.

He adds: "Now [Andrew] has got no public life, no prospect of a public life, and I think that does bring into question what he's still doing in a place that is was a home for many years of a sovereign."

In his book, Robert says that Prince Andrew's financial resources are somewhat unclear. Quoting a Palace insider, he writes: "He claims to have found other sources of income related to his contacts in international trade, sufficient to cover all his costs - which would be a welcome outcome for all parties if that turns out to be the case.

"But as to whether this funding can be relied upon in the long term is another matter."

Remaining in the 30-room mansion has become a point of pride for Andrew, Robert thinks: "Someone said to me the other day, he's got nothing else," he said.

"He's got no public life. He has no public role. And he's clearly devoted to this home, and he likes being there. So, if he can make it work, he's going to try."