Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s Royal Lodge agreement has been made public for the first time amid his and Sarah Ferguson’s preparation to leave the Windsor property.

Andrew submitted the minimum required 12 months’ notice to vacate the property on October 30.

The 25-page document on the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee goes into depth on the details of Andrew’s lease. The file, dated August 8, 2003, includes who the agreement is with, how long it lasts, and to whom the lease would have been passed.

The document was signed “between The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty (1), The Crown Estate Commission’s (2) [and] HRH the Duke of York (Andrew’s former title before he was officially stripped of it in October)”.

The 75-year agreement began on June 16, 2003 and was due to expire on June 15, 2078, until King Charles’s interjection.

If the lease had been passed over, an “acceptable assignee” would have been passed onto: “the widow of HRH the Duke of York, or Princess Beatrice, or Princess Eugenie, or the trustees of a trust which has no beneficiaries other than Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie or either of them.”

The lease notes details about the “tenant’s right to surrender”, stating: “If at any time during the term the tenant shall wish to surrender this lease, the tenant shall serve the tenant’s notice upon the landlord.”

The lengthy document comes as Ferguson is on the hunt for a new house while Andrew is preparing to depart Royal Lodge without receiving any financial settlement.

The Crown Estate informed MPs that necessary repairs to the 30-room property will almost certainly cancel out any money owed to the former tenant.

Without the need for end-of-tenancy work, Andrew would have been due £488,342.21 upon vacating the residence on October 30, 2026.

However, the estate body’s preliminary view indicates that the cost of rectifying dilapidations will effectively cancel out this potential payout when he surrenders the lease early.

“Our initial assessment is that while the extent of end of tenancy dilapidations and repairs required are not out of keeping with a tenancy of this duration, they will mean in all likelihood that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will not be owed any compensation for early surrender of the lease once dilapidations are taken into account,” the Crown Estate stated in its briefing to parliamentarians.

Andrew submitted the minimum required 12 months’ notice to vacate the property on October 30. It follows the confirmation that King Charles had ordered the removal of two prestigious honours previously bestowed on his brother.

Details about the former prince’s living arrangements have been scrutinised as controversy continues over his connections to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The scandal which has been reignited by new sexual abuse allegations contained in Virginia Giuffre’s posthumously published memoir. While Andrew has always denied allegations.

Princess Kate and the Middleton clan had reason to celebrate this week, as her sister-in-law Alizée Thevenet marked a milestone birthday and as always, the family story comes with a charming twist.

Alizée, the French financial analyst who captured the heart of Kate’s younger brother, James Middleton, turned 36 on November 30. 

And while James usually quick to post heartfelt tributes, has kept this year’s celebrations under wraps, it’s safe to imagine a cosy day surrounded by their two-year-old son, Inigo, and their pack of beloved dogs.

Since first meeting James in 2018 thanks to an unexpected matchmaker, his late cocker spaniel, Ella, who wandered over to Alizée at the South Kensington Club where she has become a treasured figure within the Middleton fold.

From holidays in St. Barts to family gatherings with Carole, Michael, Pippa, and of course Princess Kate, she has long felt like one of their own.

Now, as she rings in 36 with her growing family, the woman who arrived in James’s life by happy accident continues to shine at the heart of the Middleton circle.

Meanwhile, royal watchers will notice a notable absence from King Charles’s traditional Christmas lunch this year, as William and Kate are reportedly not attending the festive gathering.

It feels almost surreal and bittersweet to remember that not long ago Princess Kate quietly stepped back from royal life to focus on her health after her cancer diagnosis. 

Her annual Christmas Carol Concert still went ahead in 2024, but with the Princess of Wales wisely prioritising recovery, it became a rare, pared-back treat for royal watchers.

This year, the festive favourite is not only back in full force, but carrying a whole new sense of significance.

Royal expert and Woman & Home correspondent Emily Andrews explains that Kate’s “slow and considered return to work” has proved exactly the right approach. 

And now, with her strength renewed, the princess is once again at the heart of her beloved holiday tradition.

Unlike last year, when she understandably took a step back, this season sees Kate “heavily involved in organising, curating, and inviting all the participants,” Andrews reveals. 

The December 5th concert set to be broadcast across the U.K. on Christmas Eve offers more than carols and candlelight. 

Elon Musk has again grabbed online attention with a startling—yet brief—comment on X (formerly Twitter) that has sparked buzz online.

Tesla chief Elon Musk Tesla, who is known for making direct commentary on X, replied to an online discussion on nuclear deterrence with a brief comment, “War is inevitable.”

That brief comment, without providing any context, generated buzz online, with netizens starting to speculate about who tried to decode it and what Musk exactly meant.

The exchange began when an X user, Hunter Ash, with the handle @ArtemisConsort, commented on how nuclear weapons have shaped the behavior of governments globally.

The user argued that without the threat of major-power conflict, governments face no pressure to evolve—and have grown weaker as a result.

The user wrote, “Governments all suck now because nuclear weapons prevent war, or even the credible threat of war, between major powers. So there’s no external/evolutionary/market pressure on governments to not suck.”

Then, Musk jumped into the discussion, predicting war could break out within a decade: “War is inevitable. 5 years, 10 at most.”

However, he didn’t provide any further clarification on the remark, spotlight any specific regions, or draw any outlines of the reason behind such a major prediction.

The lack of detail led the users to guess and interpret his previous public comments on global tensions.

What did Grok’s analysis uncover?

Netizens attempted to comprehend Musk’s message by asking Grok, the AI chatbot designed by xAI.

Grok offered interpretations based on Musk’s earlier comments rather than this specific post.

According to Grok, Musk had earlier debated potential sources of instability, such as internal tensions in Europe due to mass migration and identity politics or global flashpoints involving Taiwan, Ukraine, and other geopolitical animosities.

Grok noted that Musk had not spotlighted any specific conflict in this latest post, but it connected the idea to Musk’s previous warnings about possible crises, noting these could include both internal civil conflicts and major-power disputes.

Without further explanation from Musk, his prediction remains open to interpretation, reigniting debates on global tensions, nuclear deterrence, and the ongoing influence of his online commentary.