What type of security does Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor actually have and who is funding it?

For Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, security is no longer a privilege, it's an expense. These days, the second son of Queen Elizabeth relies on private security. Dai Davies, former head of royal protection and a former divisional commander in the Metropolitan Police, tells HELLO! it's probably 24-hour cover, with a source saying he is being protected by ex royalty protection officers.

And private security does not come cheap. If former Scotland Yard protection officers are being used for Andrew, Dai imagines they're earning "at least what they were in the police service, and, depending on their ranks, that could be anything up to £90,000 a year".

While Dai acknowledges that he doesn't know for certain, he speculates that their salaries would depend "on what their ranks were and what they've negotiated as private individuals," adding: "The royals are notorious for not paying huge amounts to staff, so it may be considerably less."

How is Andrew paying for his security?

"It's a big question," Dai says, with one example being that he sold "his house that his mummy bought for him," for a significantly higher price than expected, and "he undoubtedly was left some money by" his late mother. "

"How much he was left by his mother, I don't know. But if he was the favorite son, I can't imagine she would have left him penniless."

Dai was referring to the sale of Sunninghill Park, a 12-bedroom residence gifted to Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson on the occasion of their marriage. The Ascot property was their home together for ten years before they split. Sarah remained living there with the couple's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, after the break-up, until they all moved out in 2006. 'SouthYork', as it was dubbed, was sold in 2007 to Kazakh billionaire businessman Timur Kulibayev for a whopping £15 million. 

Andrew's estimated £100 million to £150 million security costs

As a working royal, it's suggested that the cost of Andrew's security ran into the nine figures. 

"Probably more, if you take into account all his travels at home and abroad, all the various events he went [to], which includes not only Met police, Scotland Yard police. It also includes preparation and planning by local police and so on and so forth. And that can be expanded on every trip he made."

"It would have cost reconnaissance, it would have cost travel, it would have cost hotels. And royalty protection officers normally travel business class, and they would never stay in less than four or five star hotels, and that's before he gets there," Dai continues. "And when he gets there, quite often, he wouldn't stay in an official residence. He would go to a hotel. So they'd have to have a hotel room, and it's really almost impossible to calculate, but you're talking millions upon millions."

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That type of security would have also included Sarah, while she and Andrew were married, along with the pair's children, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice. Although they've been fixtures at royal family events over the years, Andrew's two daughters are not full-time working royals. Eugenie and Beatrice lost their taxpayer-funded protection in 2011 reportedly after a row about the cost of their security. 

"[The Princesses] had it full time, 24/7, as part of the team that looked after the whole family. You then had additional officers who looked after one when he was in the [Sunninghill] property, which they sold. And then, when he moved to Royal Lodge. He had the constabulary protecting that 24/7, and Fergie, when she divorced him, was still getting protection because the girls were with her," Dai says. 

"So every time they moved houses and she rented, they had to be made secure and technical support items put in, like cameras, alarms, all manner of things that you do when you're protecting a royal."

Dai adds: "So the mind just boggles how much this lot have cost the British taxpayers."

The end of Andrew's taxpayer-funded security

Andrew stopped receiving taxpayer-funded protection in 2022, three years after he stepped back from public duties due to his past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The former Duke's private security as well as his allowance were then cut off by his older brother, King Charles, in 2024, according to Robert Hardman's book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story.  

Last year, Andrew was stripped of his titles and honours, and was formally served notice to surrender the lease to Royal Lodge, which he vacated in early February. The monarch's brother is temporarily staying at Wood Farm, while his future home, Marsh Farm, undergoes renovations. Both properties are on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.  It was at Wood Farm where Andrew’s circumstances shifted again this year, when he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Legal proceedings relating to the matter are ongoing. 

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In light of everything, Dai doesn't believe Andrew needs more protection now than ever. "The King has decided that he should live on the estate, and that's his decision. I mean, he's got to live somewhere. A huge amount of money is being spent renovating where he is going to stay."