Former royal butler Grant Harrold spent a good deal of time at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate and says there was one aspect of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s new home surprised him
Disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor hasn’t been seen outside Wood Farm, on the Royal Family’s Sandringham estate, since his shock arrest on February 19.
Wood Farm Cottage was much-loved by Andrew’s late father Prince Philip, who lived there after his retirement from public life in 2017, but for the former Duke of York it’s just a stopgap while he waits for renovations of nearby Marsh Farm to be completed.
Andrew is, according to the Daily Mail’s Robert Hardman, not as enamoured with the picturesque cottage as his father was and has “done nothing but complain since he got there.”
But speaking exclusively to Reach PLC, former royal butler Grant Harrold said that Wood Farm is “the kind of place many of us would dream of living in.” The five-bedroomed home in Wolferton on the Sandringham Estate is about two miles from the main Sandringham House.
It was given an overhaul, including a completely new kitchen, before Prince Philip moved in but Grant says it’s far from the grand kind of residence Andrew will have been used to.
Grant said: “Wood Farm is a very cute farm house, and the kind of place many of us would dream of living in, but it’s no Royal Lodge, not by any means.”
He adds: “It had a sitting room and dining room, plus a separate kitchen and a utility room. Prince Philip did a bit of modification with the late Queen because they used it when they went to Sandringham. They modernised it and it’s beautiful. It’s nicely done. It’s just not what you’d expect at [Buckingham] Palace.
“It’s got a few guest rooms, so it’s small and humble. It’s very different in scale. I remember being quite surprised at the garden, it’s quite plain. It’s not a house that’s ever had a full-time occupant before. I wouldn’t class this as a royal home, but I think that’s why most of the royals liked it so much – it felt a lot more ‘normal’.”
He recalls that the cottage was also used by younger royals, such as Prince William and Prince Harry, before their dramatic falling-out in 2018.
Grant says “I went there with Prince William and Harry. Prince Philip used to let them go and have the weekends with their friends, and Kate [Middleton] used to join them.
“It was fun. Kate used to take on the role of ‘Lady of the House’ during the visits. She was in charge of organising the meals, organising the guests, organising which rooms people were in. The late Queen and Prince Philip used to go up there a lot, but it’s very remote. It was Prince Philip’s little escape and he used it very much towards the end of his life.”
The cottage is purely a temporary measure for Andrew, and he’s expected to move to the larger Marsh Farm in the longer term. While Marsh Farm would for most of us be an enviable property, Robert Jobson, author of The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty of Secrets, Scandal and Survival says that it’s in dire need of renovation.
He told Vanity Fair: “Not much is known about it. It’s quite boggy, a bit of a shell. It’s not finished yet.” It is believed Andrew will move in, possibly by early April, once it has been renovated.
The Sandringham estate as a whole was bought as a private country retreat for the future Edward VII when he was Albert, Prince of Wales in 1862, and has since been passed down through the royal family.
The main house is best known as the spot where the royals traditionally gather at Christmas. Nearby Anmer Hall is used by Prince William and his wife’s Catherine’s country retreat during the school summer holidays.
Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office on the day of his 66th birthday last Thursday. He has been released under investigation and continues to deny any wrongdoing with regards his association with Jeffrey Epstein.
