For many people in the privileged social circles where Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor once moved, he has become a pariah.
But despite his spectacular fall from favour, rumours have circulated that the former prince has found a new companion while living in exile at a farmhouse on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
The Mail on Sunday can identify the woman at the centre of the speculation as Aliba Bellingham, the sister of local Conservative grandee Lord Bellingham and part of north Norfolk’s affluent social set, known as the Turnip Toffs.
A passionate horsewoman and hunting enthusiast, Ms Bellingham, who is in her 60s, was formerly joint master of the Westmeath hunt in Ireland. She now splits her time between London and Norfolk, where she keeps a caravan so she can remain close to her horses.
Ms Bellingham grew up in Norfolk and has a longstanding royal connection: her godmother was the late Frances Shand Kydd, the mother of Lady Diana Spencer, who also grew up nearby. She is understood to have known Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, since childhood.
She has been seen visiting his new home, Marsh Farm, but denied on Saturday night that she and Andrew were romantically involved.
Aliba Bellingham (pictured) has been rumoured to be Prince Andrew’s new girlfriend, but she denies that they are romantically involved
Rumours about a new relationship have emerged despite Andrew’s dramatic fall from grace
Ms Bellingham, who is in her 60s, divides her time between London and Norfolk, where she keeps a caravan near her horses
She confirmed, however, that she has become friendly with the former prince and knows him as a neighbour since he was forced to exchange his Windsor mansion for Norfolk earlier this year.
‘We hang out from time to time and talk about horses and dogs – that’s what we have in common,’ she said. ‘We get on well. He loves his horses.’
‘I’m not the sort of person to dwell on things in another person’s past. I think Andrew has found Norfolk to be a very welcoming area and that he’ll enjoy living here.’
‘But there’s no question of me being a “girlfriend”; we’re just acquaintances. I think the rumours began when an American journalist heard that I’d been to tea with him, and then made two plus two equal five.’
Ms Bellingham, a mother of two, is divorced from businessman Sir Richard Rowley.
Her brother, Henry, represented North West Norfolk as a Conservative MP and served as a Foreign Office minister before being made a life peer in 2020.
Baron Bellingham told the MoS that, because the family seat is close to Sandringham, he and Aliba were once regular childhood playmates of Princes Andrew and Edward and Princess Anne.
The pair live close to one another, and Ms Bellingham confirmed that she has come to know the former prince as a friend and neighbour
Ms Bellingham, a mother of two, is divorced from businessman Sir Richard Rowley
‘Andrew was a friend of my family during our childhood days,’ he said. ‘So, in a way, my sister has known him all her life.’
Last month, The Mail on Sunday reported that Andrew was being cautiously welcomed back into the social fold by the Turnip Toffs, with one member suggesting that his ostracism had ‘gone too far’.
While the Bellinghams cannot claim the same lineage as the Windsors, they are said to have an infamous ancestor: John Bellingham, a merchant who shot and killed Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in the lobby of the House of Commons in 1812. Perceval remains the only British prime minister to have been assassinated.
Andrew was stripped of his titles after this newspaper revealed emails indicating that he had misrepresented the true extent of his links to millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and no charges have been brought against him.
