Kate Middleton Still “Shudders” About One Important Factor of Prince Andrew's Royal Lodge Scandal

For weeks now, the royal family has been in the throws of dealing with scandal and backlash.

Specifically, The Firm has been faced with navigating the fallout from Prince Andrew's latest round of scandal related to new revelations about his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as the new allegations detailed by his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, in her posthumous memoir, Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, which was released earlier this month.

Although Andrew tried to preempt some of the backlash voluntarily relinquishing his royal titles and honors, that did little to quell the onslaught of outrage from the public, which has included calls for Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson (who also relinquished her royal titles and who has faced backlash of her own related to new revelations about her ties to Epstein), to vacate Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park that they've called home since 2003.

Although individual members of the royal family have remained silent, publicly, about the scandal, a royal source has offered some insight into Kate Middleton's mindset amid the continuing fallout.

According to a report from the Mail on Sunday, Kate's primary concern has to do with where Andrew will ultimately reside. The Wales family is preparing to move from their current home, four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage, to the much larger, eight-bedroom Forest Lodge.

Like Royal Lodge, Forest Lodge is located in Great Windsor Park, meaning Andrew will live just a short walk from the Wales family if he remains in his current residence—something one royal insider said is a source of stress for the Princess of Wales.

"Catherine shudders at the thought of living so close to Royal Lodge while Prince Andrew is still in it," the royal source told the Mail on Sunday. "William wants him gone before they start to move in next week. It's not about what Andrew doesn't want to do anymore. It's about what he's going to be told to do."

According to the Mail on Sunday's report, Prince William and Kate Middleton were said to be interested in Royal Lodge as an option for their own move, but refocused their attention on Forest Lodge after Andrew made it clear he wasn't willing to move.

The Wales family reportedly hope to be moved in to Forest Lodge, which they are said to consider their "forever home," before Bonfire Night on November 5, which doesn't give Andrew long to vacate Royal Lodge if the awkwardness Kate reportedly dreads is to be avoided.

Andrew and Ferguson are reportedly negotiating an exit from the lavish property and are said to be in talks to move into two separate, smaller properties, with Andrew reportedly headed for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's former Windsor residence, Frogmore Cottage, and Ferguson possibly moving into Adelaide Cottage after the Wales family moves out.