Disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sublet houses while paying ‘peppercorn rent’, say UK auditors

The disgraced former prince Andrew earned a private income from subletting cottages while paying a symbolic “peppercorn rent” for a mansion for more than two decades, the UK government auditor has revealed.

King Charles III’s brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, until recently lived in the 30-room Royal Lodge on the royal family’s Windsor estate near London.

While living virtually rent-free there, he pocketed proceeds from subletting three cottages on its large grounds, a report on royal property income by the National Audit Office has revealed today, amid debate over the family’s opaque property arrangements.

The National Audit Office said “three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate were ... sublet”, with “income generated from subletting payable to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor”.

“We do not know what rent was charged.”

The cottages had been vacant since April, it said.

Andrew’s daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, have apartments at royal palaces with rent paid from the Privy Purse – the King’s private income – despite not being working royals, the report also reveals.

The revelations come as Parliament’s public accounts committee is set to begin an inquiry this year into royal properties.

Andrew, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was briefly arrested in February amid fresh revelations stemming from his ties to the late US billionaire and sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

Police searched the Royal Lodge in February as part of the inquiry into Andrew’s suspected misconduct in public office.

He has since moved out of the Royal Lodge to the King’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, eastern England.

He paid a £1 million ($2.2m) “premium” to lease the Royal Lodge, agreeing to spend £7.5m on improvements to secure a 75-year-lease on a peppercorn rent.

The lease allowed him to claim compensation for ending it early.

By moving out this year, he could claim more than £300,000, but is expected to receive nothing because of repairs still needed, according to the Crown Estate, a self-funding public corporation that manages royal properties.

Charles has been undertaking an overhaul of the royal family’s finances since his mother’s death in 2022.

His heir, Prince William, pays more than £300,000 in annual rent for Forest Lodge in Windsor, the National Audit Office said.

- AFP