On Monday, King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived at Balmoral Castle in Scotland’s Aberdeenshire region, and following tradition, they’ve invited members of the extended family to join them for picnics on the moors, long hikes, and grouse hunting. According to the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden, Prince Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson are the first guests to join the king and queen, but they have one sticky topic of conversation to bring up: the questions surrounding Royal Lodge, the 31-room mansion in Windsor Great Park they have shared since 2003.

Beginning in 2023, reports emerged that the king wanted to evict the ex-spouses and current roommates from the home with the apparent aim of moving them somewhere smaller. Though Andrew and Sarah live in the home on a 75-year lease they secured for 1 million British pounds following the 2002 death of the Queen Mother, its former resident, the home is owned and managed by the Crown Estate, which has the power to revoke those leases. On August 17, The Sun reported that the 10-person security team that guards Andrew and the house was being let go at the directive of the king, which a palace insider speculated was an attempt to increase pressure on Andrew to leave the property.

Buckingham Palace hasn’t commented on the status of Royal Lodge, but in May 2023, Ferguson responded cryptically when asked about the rumors of a dispute. “Don’t always believe what you read,” she said to ¡HOLA! TV. “I don’t know. I take every day as it comes.”

For decades, the Windsors have used the trek up to Balmoral as an opportunity for family reunions, and Prince Harry wrote about his memories of the Queen Mother during the August months at the castle in his memoir, Spare. This year, the king and queen made one major alteration to the tradition, arriving two weeks later than usual because the interiors of the castle had been opened for the first time in history. About 1,500 visitors took advantage of the opportunity to see the inside of the neo-Gothic castle, which was purchased by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria in 1852.

According to The Sunday Express, Charles and Camilla began their time in Scotland with a few private days at Birkhall, the smaller property where they spent 2020’s pandemic lockdowns. Later on, the couple is reportedly expecting a visit from Prince William, Princess Catherine, and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.