King Charles snubs Prince Andrew's claim for £32k-a-year Indian healing guru
King Charles is reportedly refusing to pay £32,000 out of the Privy Purse for Prince Andrew's Indian healer as he looks to make more savings in the royal budget. According to sources Andrew has been using the services of an experienced yogi for several years, and each year submits a claim for the monarch to sign off on the expense, which his mother Queen Elizabeth did without question.
But in his first year as King, Charles has stood firm against his younger brother's demands and said he will have to foot the bill himself.
The 63-year-old is said to invite the male yogi to Royal Lodge, where he stays for up to a month at a time, to treat him using chanting, massages and holistic therapy in the privacy of his home.
A source told The Sun: "The treatment, it must be said, is very expensive.
"While the Queen was always happy to indulge her son over the years, Charles is far less inclined to fund such indulgences particularly in an era of a cost-of-living crisis.
"Families are struggling and would rightly baulk at the idea of tens of thousands paid to an Indian guru to provide holistic treatment to a non-working royal living in his grace and favour mansion.
"This time the King saw the bill for the healer submitted by Andrew to the Privy Purse and thought his brother was having a laugh.
"In the past, these types of expenses would be signed off no questions but that is not the climate in the new era."
MP Norman Baker added that the £32,000 bill could have cost money to the UK taxpayer if it was deductible as an expense.
He said: "This is an outrageous use of effectively and indirectly taxpayers' money."
Andrew was stripped of his patronages and royal roles last year by the Queen, while Charles has now removed his taxpayer-funded security and withdrawn his use of an office and bedroom in Buckingham Palace.
His annual £249,000 grant is also set to be slashed from next month, meaning he may be forced out of Royal Lodge, his £30million home in Windsor Great Park.
Andrew has lived there for 20 years with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, with whom he remains close despite their divorce in 1996.
Without his annual subsidy it is thought Andrew will struggle to afford the upkeep on the property, which is his responsibility due to the lease agreement.
However Fergie has also offered to support him, as she is independently wealthy thanks to her businesses and book deals.
The couple have two daughters together, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, with the latter annoucing earlier this year she is expecting her second child.