Humiliation for Prince Andrew as lonely ‘new home’ overlooks muddy turnip fields

The Royal Family’s private retreat nestled on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, Wood Farm, is a likely option for Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson’s future home should they move out of the Royal Lodge in Windsor.

In 2003, the late Queen Elizabeth granted her ‘favourite’ son Prince Andrew a 75-year lease on Royal Lodge, for just £250 a week and a promise to maintain the property.

However, last year it emerged that Andrew, 64, could not meet the £400,000-a-year upkeep costs of the 30-bedroom home and King Charles is now said to be withdrawing private funding for security on the estate which currently costs £3 million a year.

In 1862, Queen Victoria purchased the plot of land in Sandringham as a homestead for her oldest son, who would become King Edward VII in 1901. For £220,000 (or about £27 million in today’s value), the family bought about 7,000 acres and five farms, which all had live-in tenants.

Edward and his wife Alexandra of Denmark built 26 cottages for labourers and nearby townspeople and when his son King George V and Queen Mary were married and became the Duke and Duchess of York in 1893, they took over a cottage and continued to build on it as their family expanded.

It has also housed royals wishing to stay away from the public eye, Vanity Fair reports George and Mary’s youngest son, John, who suffered epileptic seizures lived a happy life in Wood Farm tending to his own garden, and owning chickens.

After Prince John died, the royals rented out the house, much like they do with the rest of the properties on the Sandringham estate.

It has been a favourite retreat for Royal Family members in recent years. One of Princess Diana’s first visits to the estate was before Charles proposed was for a shooting party in 1980 where she stayed at Wood Farm with the late Queen.

When Princess Kate travelled to Sandringham for one of her first royal country weekends in the early 2000s, Prince William also put her up at Wood Farm.

The cottage is located on a secluded part of Sandringham that looks out over the sea as well as a stretch of muddy turnip field. The five-bedroom home comes complete with cosy open fires and has been enjoyed by the Firm in both the summer and winter months.

When the Royal Family is there, servants do not wear the usual royal uniforms and the atmosphere is relaxed. It is also the spot where the late Queen Elizabeth was known to cook and even occasionally wash the dishes, according to the Telegraph.

British author Harry Mount has told of how a former royal courtier revealed their astonishment at seeing Her Majesty working in the kitchen at Wood Farm.

Writing in the Telegraph, Harry said: “I was once at a shooting lunch, a long-dead royal courtier told me once. At the end of lunch, ‘I heard someone say I’ll do the washing-up.’ I turned round and there was the Queen in her yellow washing-up gloves.”