The National Audit Office has published a report into the royal family’s residential property arrangements
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Royal Lodge estate while paying a peppercorn rent for more than two decades, an investigation has shown.
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Royal Lodge estate while paying a peppercorn rent for more than two decades, an investigation has shown.
The National Audit Office has published a report into the royal family’s residential property arrangements after controversy surrounding the disgraced former duke’s lease of the Crown Estate home.
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.
And for a number of years, their adjusted rents – reduced because the Royal Household properties require tenants with security clearance – were based on out-of-date open market valuations.
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Sources suggested Andrew’s subletting did not generate a profit and that the rent was set at a rate to only cover maintenance and running costs for staff living there.
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Former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker branded the arrangements “outrageous”.
“The whole thing is outrageous. If you look at Andrew, this is adding insult to injury,” he said.
“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.”
He added of Beatrice and Eugenie: “There’s no way that non-working members of the royal family should be subsidised by the Duchy of Lancaster.
“The royal family is yet again taking the public for a complete ride.”
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.
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Sources suggested Andrew’s subletting did not generate a profit and that the rent was set at a rate to only cover maintenance and running costs for staff living there.
But no figures, such as repair and household costs versus rental income, or copies of the rental agreements, have been made public.
The NAO report stated: “Three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate were also sublet with income generated from subletting payable to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.”
Up until this year, Eugenie’s rent of Ivy Cottage in Kensington Palace was based on a 2018 valuation and Beatrice’s apartment in St James’s Palace on a 2020 valuation.
Eugenie’s rent was 50% of the 2018 open market value from 2020 to 2021, and ranged from 55% in 2022 to 63% in 2025, while rent on Beatrice’s was 60% of the 2020 market value from 2020-2021 and ranged from 62% to 68% between 2022-2025, the NAO said.
The current rental rates are now 64% of a 2026 open market valuation for Eugenie, and 68% of a 2026 valuation for Beatrice.
But both rents are paid to the Royal Household entirely by Charles out of the Privy Purse – which comes from his private Duchy of Lancaster income.
The King’s nieces Eugenie, 36, and Beatrice, 37, are non-working royals who both have jobs, with Beatrice married to a multimillionaire property developer.
The princesses faced scrutiny when their names appeared in the recent Jeffrey Epstein files, with one email exchange suggesting their mother Sarah Ferguson took them to see the convicted paedophile in the US days after he was released from prison for child sex crimes.
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The princesses faced scrutiny when their names appeared in the recent Jeffrey Epstein files, with one email exchange suggesting their mother Sarah Ferguson took them to see the convicted paedophile in the US days after he was released from prison for child sex crimes.
It is understood that the arrangements were put in place by the late Queen Elizabeth II for her granddaughters, and Charles continued paying for their rent at his discretion when he became King.
Financial matters at the Royal Household are, however, kept under regular review.
Eugenie is said to have carried out refurbishments at Ivy Cottage at her own expense.
Andrew was entitled to sublet up to three properties on the Royal Lodge estate in Windsor Great Park under the terms of his lease.
No details of how much he earned through subletting – an amount that is not returnable to the Crown Estate – or how much the King pays for Eugenie and Beatrice’s rent were released by the NAO, with the watchdog saying the amounts were private.
The late Queen’s second son, who was arrested on suspicion of public misconduct in February and stripped of his prince title and dukedom by Charles over his friendship with sex offender Epstein, was not asked to provide the information.
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.”