Fergie rules out moving into her own £4.25 million London townhouse - after renting it out for about £16,000 a month, as she and Prince Andrew come under mounting pressure from the King to vacate Roya

Sarah Ferguson has ruled out moving into her own £4.25 million London townhouse – after renting it out for about £16,000 a month.

The Duchess of York and her disgraced former husband Prince Andrew are under mounting pressure from the King to vacate Royal Lodge, the vast Windsor home they share.

But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Sarah has installed tenants in the two-bedroom Belgravia property she bought in 2022 – and the rent she is receiving from this means relocating to London from Windsor isn't part of her 'game plan'. Similar two-bed houses in the same street are currently available for rent at £4,000 per week – more than £200,000 a year.

This sum, however, is dwarfed by the £400,000-a-year bill needed for the upkeep of the 30-room Royal Lodge – a 19th-century, Grade II-listed pile with 90 acres of land.

A two-bedroom luxury townhouse just five minutes from Buckingham Palace would, some say, be a good option for Sarah, and even for Andrew.

But he is clinging to the Windsor mansion despite his brother's best attempts to kick him out.

From November, the King will stop paying the bill for his brother's security operation at Royal Lodge, which is believed to cost £3 million a year. The Yorks have already refused his suggestion of downsizing to Frogmore Cottage, the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

But they need to keep their next property small, to avoid paying a vast security bill.

A source said: 'Relocating to a luxury townhouse is a move that most people could only dream of, and it would save the Yorks £200,000 per year – it's a no-brainer.

'It's time for the Yorks to be independent, they've got a long-term lease with the Crown Estate and if they can pay their fully independent means to live at Royal Lodge, they're very welcome to, but they need the right security for a building of that size. If they can find the money that's great, but if they can't then a smaller property would be much less expensive.'

While Fergie bought the Belgravia home in her own name, her daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are also listed on Land Registry documents.

It is believed the funds to buy it came from money inherited by Fergie's daughters from the late Prince Philip and the Queen.

The Yorks describe the Belgravia house as an 'investment' for Sarah, though arrangements would suggest that the princesses will be its ultimate beneficiary as a 'restriction' prevents Sarah from selling it without written consent from both of her daughters.