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Kensington Palace has rubbished claims that Prince William threatened to "re-examine" the titles of his cousins, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie if they didn't help persuade their dad Prince Andrew to leave Royal Lodge. Former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis, who famously conducted Andrew's 2019 car crash Newsnight interview, made the claim. But Kensington Palace has now said that no meeting took place between the Prince of Wales and the two royals. It comes as the former Duke of York is facing calls to leave his 30-room Windsor home amid the fresh controversy over his ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the 'peppercorn' rent deal he has for the royal property, which means he has barely paid anything towards it for over 20 years. The disgraced prince announced he would be relinquishing his royal titles earlier this month but Buckingham Palace made it clear this would not impact his daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie. However, speaking on her News Agents podcast, Maitlis said that, last week, camera crews scrambled to the gates of Royal Lodge amid speculation there could be further developments in the long-running controversy surrounding the late Queen’s second son. This was the same day that King Charles prayed with Pope Leo in a historic moment at the Vatican with Maitlis saying it came after a "tip off", the Mirror reports. She alleged: "There was a question over whether there had been, earlier in the day, a meeting between Prince William and the princesses, Beatrice and Eugenie, saying 'you guys have to get your dad to move out of Royal Lodge otherwise we will start re-examining the state of your own titles.' "They are at the moment allowed to be princesses, but there was a bit of pressure, we understand, being put on the princesses to say this is going to happen. Obviously you can see why Andrew as a father would want to keep his daughters happy and keep their titles in place, come what may. “What we learned what was going to happen on Thursday was that Charles, fresh from the Vatican and his audience with the Pope, was going to come via Royal Lodge to be seen, in other words, reading the riot act to his brother.” "Nobody was going to film the conversation or see him stepping out the car but there was going to be the moment caught on camera of King Charles' car heading to Royal Lodge. "What happened, I understand, was that the Palace then got very nervous, and when they saw the choppers and helicopters, they thought this has all got too big, this has got out of control, they cancelled the whole thing. The King just went straight home and never came by." Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here . However, Kensington Palace confirmed no meeting between Prince William and the princesses took place, and said it would also be factually inaccurate to say that William can remove titles as, constitutionally, he doesn't have this power. It comes as pressure is building for Andrew to be hauled in front of MPs over his Royal Lodge lease - as the monarch was heckled by a protestor over his disgraced brother yesterday. Andrew is said to be in talks with Charles' representatives about leaving Royal Lodge, where he has stayed for more than two decades. Recent reports have claimed that he and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have agreed to leave the property in exchange for two separate residences . However, demands are being made for the former Duke of York to also testify to a Commons select committee on the use of taxpayer money after it emerged he has lived effectively rent-free in the Crown Estate property since 2003. King Charles attempted to brush off any family drama as he visited the West Midlands to attend a special service at the Cathedral on Monday morning but was heckled as he greeted crowds on Tuesday. One man in the crowd shouted a string of questions including “How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?” Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages
