Andrew charged rent on Royal Lodge cottages, audit finds
Ed Davey calls for inquiry over Prince Andrew Royal Lodge revelations at PMQs
A National Audit Office (NAO) report revealed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor privately sublet three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate for over two decades, generating personal income despite paying only a “peppercorn rent” for the main mansion.
The arrangement was permitted under his leasing agreement with The Crown Estate, with the NAO probe prompted by controversy over his lease and revelations of minimal rent payments since 2003.
Labour MP Rachael Maskell and former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker condemned the arrangements as exploitative and outrageous, arguing that any subletting income should have gone to The Crown Estate.
The report also detailed that the Prince and Princess of Wales pay £307,200 annually for their Forest Lodge home, while Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, similarly sublet properties on the Bagshot Park estate.
The findings of the NAO report will now be presented to MPs on the public accounts committee as part of a wider inquiry into royal property arrangements.
