Andrew Mountbatten Windsor may not leave Royal Lodge until early next year and could be in line for a £500,000 payout when he is finally evicted.

The disgraced royal, 65, has already surrendered his lease on the 30-room mansion in Windsor and is due to move into a new home in Sandringham. 

The Norfolk estate is the venue for the traditional Christmas gathering for members of the royal family and the delay will mean any potential encounter with Andrew over the festive period is avoided. 

Moreover, questions have now been raised over whether Andrew might get hundreds of thousands of pounds back from the Crown Estate when he leaves Royal Lodge. 

The former Duke of York, who has paid ‘peppercorn rent’ for over 20 years, had a ‘cast-iron’ lease that was not due to expire until 2078. 

And because he paid more than £8million upfront to rent and renovate the property in 2003 when he moved in, Andrew could be entitled to more than £500,000. 

The deal was that if he left within the first 25 years, he may be able to claim back some of the money he had paid in advance. 

A source said the process of Andrew moving from Royal Lodge would take place ‘as soon as practicable’.

‘It is a process – notice must be given, then the lease must be surrendered and other formalities completed,’ they said.

The source explained that it was rather like any house move: there is exchange and then completion and the process takes as long as it takes.

‘That said it will absolutely be done as soon as possible and practicable,’ they added.

The revelations come as Andrew last night began the ‘protracted’ process of becoming a private citizen after he was stripped of his Prince title.

Buckingham Palace added that Andrew will be thrown out of Royal Lodge and essentially be banished from royal life for good.

He is now due to move to a private property on the monarch’s Sandringham estate but it may take months for Andrew to leave Windsor for good. 

It is understood the delay will allow the Royal Family to avoid a potentially awkward encounter during their traditional Christmas celebrations at Sandringham, The Telegraph has reported. 

Andrew is understood to be ‘sanguine’ about the dramatic change in his circumstances which comes as a result of the recent revelations against him. 

These include that Andrew told his friend, the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, that ‘we are in this together’ – as was exclusively revealed by the Mail.  

The family of Virginia Giuffre – who claimed to have been trafficked to and made to have sex with Andrew at 17 – are now also calling for him to face justice in the US. 

Jonathan Dimbleby said these events had forced Charles’ hand, adding that he was in ‘no doubt’ that the monarch has been ‘consistently embarrassed’ by his brother’s behaviour.

‘I suspect he will be feeling a measure of relief,’ he said of Charles.

‘His brother – this is not an easy thing for any brother to do, to be banished, eternal imprisonment in a way, on Sandringham Estate.’

He added: ‘We know his brother was boorish, arrogant, entitled, that he made an awful lot of bad friendships, all sorts of questions about how he got his own money – there is a lot that will be discussed.

‘If there are further investigations, which I’m sure there will be into Andrew himself, the King himself will be quite separate from that and more importantly the institution of the monarchy will be detached from that.’

Stripping Andrew of his Prince title, the palace said in a cold statement last night: ‘His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew. 

‘Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence.

‘Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.

‘These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.

‘Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.’

Andrew will now have to face a new reality – one which could see him distanced from his beloved daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, according to royal experts.

Royal biographer Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail their relationship will ‘change drastically’.

‘His daughters will want to keep as much distance as possible from him. It will be devastating for them.’

Princesses Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, will retain their Royal titles despite their father no longer being a prince.

Angela Levin, a royal commentator and biographer, told the Daily Mail the pair will want to avoid him as much as possible but might have to ‘step up’ and parent their father if he becomes ‘desperate’.

She said: ‘I think Andrew will feel so crumbled about what has happened. He’s always been so pompous and trusting himself as being so clever.

‘For him to have everything taken away, and for that to happen in front of your children, who are grown up and can understand what he is being accused of, is very embarrassing to him, and for his own children. He will have to lean on them if he has no one else.’

Meanwhile yesterday, the anti–monarchy campaign group Republic said it had instructed lawyers to investigate Andrew and, if appropriate, press ahead with a private prosecution.

The Daily Mail understands the allegations it is focusing on relate to accusations he sexually assaulted Giuffre, that he asked a royal protection officer to look into her background and impropriety when he served as an official UK trade envoy.

Republic said it is mounting its own bid to take him to court because the legal and political response to the claims has been ‘weak and inadequate’ to date.

‘If not us, then who?’ asked Graham Smith, the group’s CEO. ‘It’s a devastating indictment on the UK’s criminal justice system, police and politicians – not to mention the king and heir – that we must resort to a private prosecution.’

Last night the group said that Andrew’s punishment was ‘nowhere near enough’, adding: ‘He will never be an ‘ordinary person’ – ordinary people don’t get away with being accused of sexual abuse.’

Andrew’s royal biographer Andrew Lownie, whose forensic biography of the disgraced Duke of York, Entitled, was released last week, has promised there will be more revelations to come in a new book in the summer.

Lownie told The Mail on Sunday that friends of Andrew have come forward ‘in droves’ to say they are now willing to paint the ‘full picture’ about his past.

Many are formerly loyal associates who had originally declined to be involved in the book but have been emboldened to come forward since its publication.

And so many have now offered to contribute that the historian – who spent four years working on Entitled, and interviewed hundreds of people for his research – has been invited by his publisher to produce an updated edition.