The disgraced former Duke of York’s lease for his previous Royal Lodge mansion allowed him to rent out three of the eight buildings within the grounds of 99-acre estate – and pocket the income himself
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was able to rake in cash by sub-letting three cottages in the grounds of Royal Lodge – despite paying just a peppercorn rent for his former home, it has emerged.
The disgraced former Duke of York’s lease for his previous 99-acre Windsor estate allowed him to rent out three of the eight buildings that were within the grounds in a private deal between him and the tenants – and pocket the income himself.
However the deal, which one expert called outrageous, has been shrouded in mystery as there is no clarification on how much money the ex-prince made through subletting or how long they were sublet out for. A royal source claimed Andrew was subletting the cottages to staff at a rate to cover maintenance costs for the Royal Lodge estate.
Pictures taken of the Windsor mansion in the months before he was forced out to live in a smaller Sandringham home and stripped of his titles after allegations regarding his association with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein came to light, showed the property crumbling – with paint peeling from walls and cracks in the brickwork.
It is understood Mountbatten-Windsor, who was arrested on suspicion of public misconduct in February, will not be entitled to compensation worth between £300,000 and £400,000 from the Crown Estate for giving up the Royal Lodge lease early due to the dilapidation costs that need to be paid.
Yesterday, the former Duke was seen driving near his new home of Marsh Farm and appeared to have a bruise on the side of his face. Last month, it was announced that detectives investigating him will consider allegations of sexual misconduct in their inquiry into potential misconduct in public office.
The new details of his subletting arrangement at Royal Lodge have come to light in a report by the National Audit Office (NAO), which was instructed to look at the Royal Family and its property arrangements.
It came after the Public Accounts Committee, which ensures taxpayers are getting value for money, launched an enquiry into the Crown Estate and its property arrangements with the royals after it emerged Mountbatten-Windsor had barely been paying rent for Royal Lodge. Profits from the Crown Estate are given to the Treasury for public spending.
Other findings by the public spending watchdog include the revelation that the King foots the bill for Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s accommodation in royal palaces despite both Andrew’s daughters being non-working royals – as well as for Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
The King’s nieces Eugenie, 36, and Beatrice, 37, who both have jobs, with Beatrice married to multimillionaire property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. It is understood the arrangement for the Privy Purse to pay the York sister’s rent was put in place by the late Queen with Eugenie paying herself for renovations to her cottage at Kensington Palace.
Former Liberal Democrat minister and expert on royal finances, Norman Baker, branded Andrew’s arrangements ‘outrageous’. He estimates that cottages in the location around Royal Lodge could easily fetch £30,000 a year in rent, meaning over the last 20 years, the ex-prince could have stood to make £2million. He told the Mirror : “Every time you lift a royal stone, you find something nasty crawling underneath.
“Today’s National Audit Report reveals that the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was not only living it up rent-free in the massive Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, but had the cheek to let out three cottages attached to his mansion and pocket the cash. So not just rent free but quids in.”
He added: “t he whole thing is outrageous. If you look at Andrew, this is adding insult to injury. It shows an absolute total contempt for the taxpayer, not only that Andrew was able to have a peppercorn rent for a gigantic property, but then to make potentially millions on the side from subletting properties. The money should have gone to the Crown Estate, not into (his) pockets.”
Andrew retains the lease for Royal Lodge until October 2026 and is currently in the middle of a year-long notice period after surrendering it.
The lease was negotiated in 2003 on the basis that he would spend £7.5million renovating the property, which the Crown Estate confirmed he did. This reduced his capital premium payment to £1 million, alongside a peppercorn rent.
The terms of the lease meant Mountbatten-Windsor was entitled to sublet up to three properties on the Royal Lodge estate in Windsor Great Park. No details of how much he earned through subletting were released by the NAO, with the watchdog saying the amounts were private.
The late Queen’s second son was not asked to provide the information. It is also not known whether Andrew’s sublet properties were consistently rented out, but his subletting of the residences ended in April 2026. He finally quit Royal Lodge earlier this year, moving to the King’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
The NAO report, which did not assess value for money, will form the basis of the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiry into royal properties. The NAO found that rent and lease arrangements for the royals differed depending on why the accommodation was required and whether the property was managed by the Crown Estate or the Royal Household.
Meanwhile, the report also reveals that other non-working royals, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent also have their Kensington Palace apartment rent paid for by the King.
The late Queen’s cousin and his wife Marie-Christine, were dubbed the ‘Rent-a-Kents’ and sparked a scandal when it emerged in 2002 that they paid a peppercorn rent of just £69 a week to live in the grand Apartment 10, maintained by the taxpayer, despite not being working royals.
MPs on the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee demanded they pay full rent, but the couple argued that Queen Elizabeth II had given them the use of the Palace as a wedding present.
The late Queen came to the rescue, offering to pay a commercial rate rent of £120,000 a year on their behalf, until they had to find the sum themselves from 2009. But the new NAO report revealed, in contrast, that their rent is now paid by the King from the Privy Purse. It is understood the late Queen agreed to continue to pay for her relatives after 2009 with the King continuing to honour his mother’s commitment.
In other findings, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were shown to pay a peppercorn rent after signing a long lease of 150 years in 2007 for Bagshot Park in Surrey with a payment of £5million, and Edward’s company, Eclipse Nominees Limited listed as the leaseholder.
Edward and Sophie, like Andrew, are also entitled to sublet on the estate, and generated a private income after renting out the stable complex at Bagshot Park to a third party up to 2020. It was reported earlier this year that the couple were able to make up to £130,000 per year subletting the stables and an office block.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “We are grateful to the National Audit Office for this report, which is in line with The Royal Household’s commitment to transparency. We hope that the findings will help correct, clarify or contextualise a number of points regarding Royal properties.
“As the report notes, arrangements for properties managed by the Royal Household vary based on a number of factors to ensure residences are filled appropriately, depending on their location, tenants and purpose.”
While a spokesperson for The Crown Estate, said: “The Crown Estate welcomes the National Audit Office’s review, which confirms its leases with members of the Royal Family were agreed in line with independent, professional advice and open market valuations. We look forward to discussing the report further with the Public Accounts Committee in due course.”
Mr Baker, author of the book Royal Mint, National Debt, says further transparency is needed into royal funding – and a full probe should be launched.
He said: “We need a full open inquiry by parliament’s Public Accounts Committee into all aspects of royal funding, and we need it now. Support for a republic has been growing fast, especially among young people. If the monarchy wants to survive, it had better start reforming itself pretty quickly.”
