Andrew was sub-letting Royal Lodge cottages, watchdog reveals
For more than two decades, Prince Andrew enjoyed a pretty sweet deal at Royal Lodge—a 30-room mansion on the Windsor estate where he paid virtually no rent. But it turns out the arrangement was even sweeter than anyone realised. The UK's public spending watchdog has revealed that Andrew quietly pocketed undisclosed rental income by sub-letting three cottages on the estate, all while living rent‑free himself. And that's not all: the report also shows that King Charles personally covers the rent for Andrew's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, to live in central London palace apartments—even though neither carries out official royal duties.First, a quick recap of the Royal Lodge setup. Andrew landed the lease back in 2003, paying £7.5 million for repairs upfront. That hefty sum meant he didn't have to pay any monthly rent—a "peppercorn" deal in property jargon. But here's the twist the National Audit Office (NAO) has just uncovered: his lease also allowed him to sub-let up to three cottages on the 40‑hectare Royal Lodge estate. And sub-let them he did, right up until April 2026, banking all the rental income for himself.
So how much are we talking? The NAO report doesn't say. Palace sources have suggested the cottages were rented to staff or retired staff at rates designed only to cover running costs. But critics aren't convinced. Norman Baker, a former Home Office minister and a long‑time royal finance sceptic, called the arrangements "outrageous" and said they showed "total contempt for the taxpayer". Neither the NAO nor the Crown Estate could get a handle on the actual income figures, which remains private.
Meanwhile, the NAO's report has also shone a light on accommodation for Andrew's daughters. Princess Beatrice has a property in St James's Palace and Princess Eugenie in Kensington Palace. They don't pay a penny in rent. Instead, the bill is footed by the "privy purse"—the King's personal money—and while the rent is meant to be set at 60% of open market rates, no exact figure has been released. The Palace has defended this by saying any rent paid covers the publicly funded expenditure on these palaces, so there's no extra cost to the Sovereign Grant. But as Norman Baker put it, "deference is wearing thin indeed".
And for anyone wondering whether Andrew is still clinging on to Royal Lodge, the answer is… sort of. He left earlier this year and moved to a private residence on the King's Sandringham estate. But he still holds the lease on the Windsor mansion until October 2026. MPs on the Public Accounts Committee are set to hold a follow‑up inquiry, so expect more questions to come.
