Royal news – live: King trades bee tips with David Beckham as Prince Andrew ‘refuses’ to leave Royal Lodge

The King is to take part in the Trooping the Colour ceremony next month and will inspect the soldiers from a carriage, it is understood.

The annual event has marked the official birthday of the King or Queen for more than 260 years and will take place on June 15th.

The confirmation comes after Buckingham Palace was forced cancel and review dozens of royal engagements after the General Election was called for July 4.

The King is threatening to cut ties with his disgraced younger sibling Prince Andrew if he refuses to leave his Royal Lodge home for a smaller residence, according to a royal insider.

A friend of the monarch says Andrew is testing the King’s “patience and tolerance” by staying in the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire.

“The King’s kindness is not without limit,” a friend of Charles told the Times on Saturday.

“There is a very good option for Andrew to move into Frogmore Cottage, recently vacated by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”

A Welsh bed and breakfast has shared a never-seen-before picture of the Prince and Princess of Wales taken on a getaway last year.

Duffryn Mawr Country House shared the picture featuring the royal couple with their staff to their social media.

“It’s been 1 year since we welcomed William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, to Duffryn Mawr!” the social media post read.

It added: “So kind and friendly, it was a pleasure to have them stay here.”

Prince Andrew can not meet the £400,000-a-year upkeep of the Royal Lodge but is resisting being moved, according to reports.

Prince Andrew was told to leave the property, but was granted a “stay of execution” after he made a deal with the King to carry out repair works on the residence, which is worth around £30 million.

But drone pictures show the building needs more work with paint peeling and scaffolding erected possibly igniting another row between Andrew and his brother King Charles.

King Charles is reportedly urging him to move into Frogmore Cottage which is said to be in good condition after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle carried out renovation work, and would make significant savings if Andrew were to move in.

King Charles won’t heal the rift with Harry and Meghan “anytime soon”, says a royal insider – but there is a way forward for the father and son.

Robert Hardman is the author of Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story, which was published in January this year and gave an insight into the first year of the King’s reign.

Speaking at Hay Festival, Hardman suggested that Harry’s explosive memoir Spare is still casting a long shadow over family relations. “The problem that exists is, at the moment, there is still a trust issue. People are still very wounded, particularly Prince William, that these intimate private childhood family moments all spilled out in Harry’s book,” Hardman said.

“It’s not what Harry said, it’s the fact that he said it, and he gave away so many secrets. And he was, effectively, at the time of the Queen’s death, you know, he was taking notes.”

Hardman also suggested that Harry hadn’t told the full story – but there might be a cynical reason for that. “If you do read that book, and as I said it’s amazing, but if you get to the bit about his wedding to Meghan, it boils down really to about four or five pages. Now, as an author, that says to me one thing and one thing only: part two might be on its way.”

Prince Andrew cuts an increasingly isolated figure, who “spends his days watching television in a darkened room”.

A friend of King Charles has now claimed that life at the Royal Lodge will become “increasingly cold and uncomfortable” for Andrew if he refuses to hand back the keys.

The friend told The Times: “It can be done tidily or untidily. It can be done with grace and dignity or it can be forced upon him. It’s all rather sad.

“But as things stand, life at Royal Lodge is set to become increasingly cold and uncomfortable for the duke.

“The only question now is when he will realise that he has become a prisoner of his own pride — and that handing back the keys will afford him far greater comfort, and the continued support of his family.”

The royal family has removed a historic statement confirming Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship from their website.

The statement, from Prince Harry’s spokesperson in 2016, confirmed that the pair were together and requested for the “wave of abuse and harassment” Meghan was facing to stop.

It cited “racial undertones of comment pieces” and “outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.”

King Charles has been urged to “shake up the Royal Family” by a PR expert after “losing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle”.

Publicist Haddy Folivi spoke exclusively to GB News, arguing that the Royal Family needs to make some drastic changes.

He claimed: “The Royal Family definitely needs a shake-up.

“With King Charles somewhat limited in what he can do work-wise, there is only so much that Prince William and the Queen can do.

“So the royals will have to draw on the reserves and enlist some more working royals so us, the taxpayers, feel like we are getting our money’s worth.”

Prince Andrew has to lick the Royal Lodge “with two coats of paint” every five years under the terms of his lease, and he is already a year behind, according to reports.

The Duke’s 75-year lease agreement with the Crown Estate, which was signed in 2003 and has now been seen by The Times, states that he must “repair, renew, uphold, clean and keep in repair and where necessary rebuild” the home.

It adds that he must repaint the external walls “with two coats of paint” every five years from 2008 onwards – work that was due to have been completed last year.

The seventh Duke of Westminster – once dubbed one of Britain’s most eligible bachelors – is officially the richest man in the UK under 40.

According to the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List, Hugh Grosvenor, 33, has a net worth of £10.127 billion – a substantial increase from the £9.878 billion he had in 2023.

However, he is soon set to lose his bachelor status when he ties the knot in the society wedding of the year next month.

Emma Guinness reports: