Latest cash-in from Andrew and Fergie leaves aides shaking their heads | Royal | News

In what sounds like the plot of a far-fetched adventure novel, everyone’s ears pricked up when it was whispered that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson could make some extra cash selling royal valuables. With their move out of Royal Lodge imminent, Andrew, at least, is gearing up to go from a 30-room mansion to a five-bedroom farmhouse, meaning he’ll have a right royal loot to find space for.

Among the items it is suggested he might put up for auction are private letters and jewellery. It’s believed the Palace has legal experts poised and at the ready to monitor the situation. And who can blame them?

But with the ex-Duke and Duchess’s history of being paid with generous gifts and Sarah’s well-known money troubles, having access to an Aladdin’s cave of treasures, must be tantalising. A source said: “The appearance of even a single item would trigger immediate and widespread fallout. But Andrew and Sarah seem intent on turning the Lodge into some sort of pawn shop source by collecting together goods they think they can auction off to the highest bidder.”

So while unmarked removal vans have been seen going in and out of Royal Lodge’s gates this week, we can but wait to see if the ex-couple would be so bold.

Another blow to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s ego was landed when it emerged that, before he is even allowed to move into his “shoebox” five-bedroom home, he will have to spend some time stuck in royal purgatory at an even smaller property on the Sandringham Estate.

Given that the King’s Norfolk home is privately owned, it’s unlikely we’ll know which residence the beleaguered royal will rest his head in, but it’ll surely make him all the more grateful when he can finally put his own stamp on Marsh Farm. Right?!

While Andrew originally had until October to move, the deadline has kept creeping closer… first by Easter and then before his birthday next month. Given the rush and considering that little more damage can surely be done, one can’t help but wonder what the plans for Royal Lodge are.

To happier news and Prince William and Catherine will be heading back to where it all began on Tuesday with a visit to Stirling and Falkirk to shine a spotlight on Scottish heritage traditions. The couple who famously met on the cobble-stoned streets of St Andrew’s University as students will be heading north again, with one of the highlights being a head-to-head game of curling on the ice at the National Curling Academy.

Despite shouting from the rooftops about the dangers of social media for young people, Harry and Meghan have surprisingly stepped back from their organisation, the Parents Network, which was set up to offer support to parents who have lost a child to online harm. Given that blasting tech companies, criticising social media and praising bold tactics to tighten controls for younger people seems to have replaced the run-of-the-mill attacks on the press the couple have launched over from Montecito, perhaps change is on the horizon… again.

Perhaps with a collective sigh of relief, you’ll be pleased to hear that this new offering isn’t exactly a bombshell book ready to rock the Royal Family yet again… but it won’t delight them! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s mouthpiece, Omid Scobie, has put pen to paper for a third time and is the co-author behind Royal Spin, a romantic fiction about a Buckingham Palace press officer… eek!

And for those who lap up every morsel of royal drama, there’s more good news as the book has already been scooped up for a six-figure TV deal with Universal Television and will be published next month. That’s not all on the book front as the Mirror’s Royal Editor, Russell Myers, announced the release of an “intimate” new book on the Prince and Princess of Wales. When it hits bookshelves on February 26, it promises to emphasise William and Catherine’s resilience and their plans for a modern monarchy. Watch this space!