Prince Andrew is growing 'increasingly anxious' that he will not be able to pay his legal fees after King Charles told him he must meet the costs himself, royal sources have revealed. The disgraced former Duke of York, 66, was arrested last month by Thames Valley police investigating allegations of misconduct in a public office, and has been released pending investigation.
A royal source said: 'The financial burden on him, having to attend interviews and take the relevant advice are a huge concern for him and one which he is growing increasingly anxious about. The King has made clear that Andrew is now a private citizen and must meet the relevant costs on his own.' However, sources suggest that while the King has privately ruled out using taxpayer funds, he may feel moved to assist his brother privately.
'Much like the King has supplemented Andrew’s living arrangements by housing him on his private estate in Norfolk, if he could not pay his legal fees then the King may find himself in the rather uncomfortable position of being asked to pay for them privately,' a source said. A senior palace source noted that public funds would not be used, but that if the King met the costs himself, there was a risk the public would not view it favourably.
Andrew became the first senior royal in modern history to be arrested, nearly 400 years after King Charles I was taken prisoner. He was photographed slouched in a Range Rover after leaving Aylsham police station in Norfolk. The arrest followed the release of millions of files by the US Department of Justice relating to the Epstein scandal.
After stripping Andrew of his titles and honours in October 2025, Charles also evicted him from his 30-room Royal Lodge mansion. The King arranged for him to be housed in a four-bedroom cottage on the Sandringham estate. This week it emerged that Andrew is giving up the lease on East Lodge, a thatched cottage near Sunninghill Park, where he had been paying an annual rent of almost £13,000.
Andrew’s finances have long been shrouded in mystery. In 2022 he settled a civil sexual-assault lawsuit for £12 million brought by Virginia Giuffre, despite previously claiming he had no recollection of ever meeting her.
