Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Windsor Royal Lodge estate while paying a “peppercorn rent”, a National Audit Office (NAO) report has found. The public spending watchdog said: “We do not know what rent was charged.” The revelation, published on Friday as part of a public accounts committee inquiry sparked by public outcry over the former prince’s peppercorn lease, prompted immediate calls for a sweeping investigation into all royal finances.
Republic, the anti-monarchy campaign group, branded the subletting a “flagrant abuse of public property”. Its chief executive, Graham Smith, said: “The crown estate and royal palace property portfolio is state property. It should all be used for the benefit of the public, not the private enrichment of the royals.” He added: “MPs need to seize this moment to push for radical reform, including removing all royals but the monarch from publicly owned accommodation.”
“Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor secretly sublet three Royal Lodge cottages, earning private income while paying a peppercorn rent.”
The NAO report also disclosed that Mountbatten-Windsor’s daughters, the princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who do not perform royal duties, live in royal palaces with their rent paid privately by King Charles, adjusted because tenants must be security vetted.
Margaret Hodge, who previously chaired the public accounts committee, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she was “very concerned” that the NAO could not establish how much money the former duke had made from the properties, describing it as “shocking”.
Norman Baker, the former Liberal Democrat minister, called for an investigation into “all royal finances, not just Andrew’s”, adding: “I am happy to open this can of worms.” The former prince was evicted from Royal Lodge to Marsh Farm in Norfolk by the king after the peppercorn rent arrangement ended. Campaigners are pressing MPs to demand radical reform, with Republic urging the removal of all royals except the monarch from publicly owned accommodation.