The endless own-goals from the left-behind Windsors are always a joy to behold. Apparently, a few days before Easter, Prince Edward became the first royal to visit Prince Andrew following his arrest in February. While Andrew has reportedly been in communication with King Charles and Princess Anne, Edward went to Wood Farm to see his brother face-to-face. According to the British tabloids, this wasn’t a pleasant meeting though. Edward apparently bitched out Andrew for staying at Wood Farm as Marsh Farm is still being renovated for Andrew’s eventual use. You see, Edward and his family wanted to stay at Wood Farm over the Easter holiday, and Edward never considered that he could simply go to one of the other hundreds of available royal-owned cottages. Nevermind that he and his family pay “peppercorn rent” on their 120-room mansion, Bagshot Park, they also wanted a free holiday rental in Sandringham!! So Edward and Sophie had to “slum” it at the Gardens House for their holiday this year. Such an inconvenience to stay in a perfectly lovely little cottage on the Sandringham estate.
This is the dated but functional holiday let where Prince Edward and his family were forced to stay because Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is refusing to leave his temporary home. Edward and his wife Sophie had wanted to stay in Wood Farm, where Andrew is holed up, for their regular Easter break but were forced to stay in the Gardens House on King Charles’ Sandringham estate.
The Gardens House is a secluded four bedroom property – costing up to £4,110 a week in the high season – is plain with beige coloured carpets, cream walls, floral patterned curtains and a kitchen with a traditional tiled floor, wooden cupboards and a metal sink.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh usually use Wood Farm for their Easter break, but that is still being lived in by his disgraced brother. Andrew has been staying at Wood Farm, the former retirement home of his late father Prince Philip, since he moved in early February to Sandringham amid mounting public anger about his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The disgraced former prince had reportedly been due to move before Easter to a new permanent home at nearby Marsh Farm in the village of Wolferton, once renovations on the five bedroom property are complete. Concerns were reportedly raised weeks ago that he might drag his feet over his move because he considers Wood Farm as far more suitable for him due to it being more private and hidden from view down a 300-yard drive.
Gardens House was originally touted as one of the possible homes for Andrew when it was revealed in October last year that he was being stripped of his prince title and was leaving his 30-room mansion Royal Lodge at Windsor. But it is believed that the property which was once the home of the estate’s head gardener was ruled out by King Charles, due to it being just 300 yards away from Sandringham House. Gardens House has instead continued to be rented out to members of the public as a holiday let, although it is almost fully booked until the end of December 2027.
It is possible that the house may well have been booked by someone else for the days before Easter, leading to their visit being cancelled for Edward and Sophie to have the house instead.
You can see photos of the Gardens House here – it’s yet another charming cottage which many people would love to stay in for a country holiday. I feel sorry for the people who likely rented the cottage for their Easter holiday only to have their plans dashed because Edward wanted to be in Norfolk for a few weeks. My question… isn’t the main Sandringham house very big? Like, couldn’t Edward and Sophie just stay in the main house, especially if it was only for a few weeks? It’s insane to see what these people fight about. And the whole thing about Edward visiting Andrew just to yell at him is hilarious, even moreso because Andrew apparently moved into Marsh Farm on Tuesday. He waited just long enough to RUIN Edward’s Easter getaway, the scandal of it all!!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
