King Charles once rejected a “bizarre” request from his brother Andrew to pay £32,000 for spiritual Indian gurus to treat him while staying at his home, a royal biographer has claimed.
According to author Robert Jobson, the King was “horrified” by the proposal and immediately blocked it, despite the late Queen Elizabeth II previously “passing the request through.” Writing in his new book The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty, Mr Jobson said the refusal signalled a new, more business-like approach to royal spending.
The move is part of a wider effort by the monarch to reshape the Royal Household and enforce financial discipline. “The King isn’t running a housing association for distant relatives,” one source said bluntly. Charles has also instructed aides to rein in spending from the Duchy of Lancaster and the Sovereign Grant, focusing on “smarter use of resources.”
Charles’s stance on Andrew reflects a continued effort to distance the monarchy from the controversies that have dogged the former Duke of York since his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In November, the King officially stripped his brother of both his HRH style and his princely title following claims of sexual abuse, which Andrew has strenuously denied.
The eviction of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from Frogmore Cottage was also part of this tightening of royal resources. “Their loss of a British base … is described as ‘the tip of the iceberg’. The message is clear: no freeloaders in the modern monarchy,” the book states.
King Charles III has kept his promise of slimming down the monarchy, saving the public purse more than £20 million. In 2023–24, overall net expenditure funded by the Sovereign Grant fell by 17 percent to £89.1 million, compared to a record high the previous year.
