Former Prince Andrew earned undisclosed income by subletting three cottages on a royal estate where he lived essentially rent-free for more than two decades, according to a report released Friday by the National Audit Office (NAO), the UK's independent public spending watchdog. The findings have renewed scrutiny of the financial arrangements surrounding the royal family's extensive property holdings.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, 66 and the younger brother of King Charles III, signed a lease for Royal Lodge — a 30-room mansion set within a larger estate near Windsor Castle, west of London — in 2003. Under the terms of that agreement, he paid only a nominal "peppercorn rent," having contributed £7.5 million (approximately $10 million) toward renovation works in lieu of monthly payments. The lease permitted him to sublet three of the estate's eight cottages, which he did until April 2026. The NAO report does not specify how much income he received, though palace sources suggested the rent covered only operational costs and that the tenants were staff or former staff. Whatever the sum, the money went to Mountbatten-Windsor rather than to the Crown Estate, the body that manages royal properties and returns its profits to the Treasury.
The report — the first comprehensive review of royal housing in 20 years — was commissioned by lawmakers following the scandal surrounding Mountbatten-Windsor's relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The former prince was stripped of his royal titles and later evicted from Royal Lodge; he moved earlier this year to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, eastern England, though he retains the Royal Lodge lease until October 2026. In February, he was arrested and questioned by police over allegations of misconduct in public office related to his time as UK trade envoy from 2001 to 2011. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has not been charged. British police have indicated the investigation may be broadened to include allegations of sexual misconduct.
The audit also revealed that the king pays subsidised rent — set at between 50% and 68% of open-market value in recent years — for palace properties occupied by Mountbatten-Windsor's daughters, Princess Beatrice (at St James's Palace) and Princess Eugenie (at Kensington Palace), both in central London. Neither is a working royal with official duties, and both hold outside jobs. These rents are drawn from the Privy Purse, the monarch's private funds, while maintenance costs at the properties are covered by the Sovereign Grant, the public funding mechanism for official royal functions.
The omission of exact figures from the NAO report drew sharp criticism. Margaret Hodge, a Labour member of the House of Lords and former chair of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, called it "shocking" that auditors were unable to establish the precise sums involved. Norman Baker, a former Liberal Democrat lawmaker and longtime critic of royal finances, said the arrangements showed "an absolute total contempt for the taxpayer" and warned that public respect for the monarchy was eroding. Buckingham Palace said the report was "in line with the royal household's commitment to transparency" and expressed hope that it would "help correct, clarify or contextualise" questions about royal properties. The NAO itself stressed that its role was to present facts rather than to pass judgement, and that the report would inform a forthcoming inquiry by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee.