Landlord Andrew funded his lavish lifestyle renting out royal properties

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been urged to pay back an “outrageous” rental income after an investigation revealed that the former prince sublet three cottages at his Royal Lodge estate.

The former Duke of York received the rental money while paying only a “peppercorn” rent for his own 30-room mansion on the Windsor estate for more than two decades.

Mountbatten-Windsor’s status as a landlord emerged from a National Audit Office report into royal residential arrangements following controversy over his Crown Estate lease.

Other findings by the public spending watchdog include the revelation that King Charles foots the bill for Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s accommodation in royal palaces – despite both being non-working royals.

Andrew could potentially have received £180,000 a year from three cottages on the exclusive estate during his later years in Windsor, property experts estimated. Over the course of two decades, the total may have amounted to more than £2m.

Under the arrangement, he did not have to return any money to the Crown Estate, an independent commercial operation which returns its profits to the Treasury for the benefit of taxpayers.

Royal observers told The i Paper that the former Duke’s rental income may help explain how he was able to fund such a “lavish lifestyle” over the years.

Some called on Mountbatten-Windsor – stripped of his titles over ties to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – to explain whether he used rental money to pay any legal bills in recent years.

Sources suggested Andrew’s subletting did not generate a net profit, and that the rent at the cottages was set at a rate to only cover maintenance and running costs for staff living there.

But no figures, such as repair and costs versus rental income at the cottages, or copies of the rental agreements, have been made public to verify how much he may have received.

Rent at sublet cottages was ‘payable to Andrew’

The estate in Great Windsor Park is believed to contain six cottages, a gardener’s cottage and accommodation for security staff, as well as the main 30-room house.

Andrew was entitled to sublet three properties under the terms of his lease with the Crown Estate, which began in 2004.

The lease was agreed on the basis he would spend £7.5m renovating the property, which the Crown Estate confirmed he did. This reduced his upfront, capital premium payment to £1m, alongside a nominal or “peppercorn” rent.

“Three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate were also sublet with income generated from subletting payable to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” the NAO report released on Friday stated.

It is not known whether Andrew’s sublet cottages were consistently rented out, but the arrangement ended in April 2026. He finally quit Royal Lodge earlier this year, moving to the King’s private, smaller Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

Andrew urged to ‘pay the money back’

The former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker said it was “outrageous” that Andrew had been able to gain rental income while at Windsor.

He should now “pay the money back to the Crown Estate”, even if he complied with the terms of the lease, said Baker, author of Royal Mint: National Debt.

Calling for Mountbatten-Windsor to be transparent about the sums he received, Baker added: “There was nothing whatsoever to stop him using the rental income on his lavish lifestyle. Was he using his dubious gains to fund his legal bills?”

A high-end three-bedroom cottage in an exclusive part of Berkshire could get at least £5,000 a month in rental income, one luxury property expert told The i Paper.

They estimated that Andrew could have potentially received at least £180,000 a year from three such cottages by the time he left the Royal Lodge.

Factoring in rent increases over the past 20 years, the property expert – who did not wish to be named – said Andrew could have potentially made over £2m in rental income during his time at Windsor.

Baker compared the situation at the Royal Lodge to the subletting which Prince Edward and Sophie were able to do at their Crown Estate-leased residence at Bagshot Park in Surrey.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were reportedly able to charge up to £130,000 a year from subletting the stables at Bagshot Park up to 2020.

Baker said it was “not impossible” that Mountbatten-Windsor’s rental income had been in the “same ball park as that”.

“If that’s an over-estimate, let him come out and tell us,” said the former minister.

Rental income only part of the ‘jigsaw puzzle’

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, said the “special deal” which allowed subletting “will seem unjust to ordinary people”, even if Andrew was complying with the terms of the lease.

“It appears he [Mountbatten-Windsor] lived a lavish lifestyle. This extra income would have helped him,” added Fitzwilliams. “It’s part of the jigsaw puzzle on his finances. But there is still so much we don’t know about his lifestyle. It remains mysterious.”

The rental income “adds to the picture on how he was able to pay for the upkeep of the lodge, and helped fund his lifestyle”, said Dr Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert at Royal Holloway, University of London.

“We don’t know [if he used the rental income for legal bills] – there wouldn’t have been any restriction, he would have used the money how he sees fit,” added Dr Prescott, author of Modern Monarchy.

Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by Thames Valley Police in February over allegations he passed sensitive information to Epstein while serving as UK trade envoy. He was released under investigation and denied wrongdoing.

In 2022, Andrew reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre – who died earlier this year – reportedly worth around £12m. The Daily Telegraph reported that the late Queen helped foot the legal bill from her private funds.

But it remains uncertain exactly how he settled the civil case, in which Giuffre accused him of sexual assault. Andrew made no admission of guilt and he has always denied any claims of wrongdoing.

Pressure to deny Andrew any compensation owed

Andrew’s rental income from his time at Windsor will “reinforce an existing perception” that he benefitted from privileges “unavailable to most people”, said Lauren Beeching, a crisis communications specialist.

Mountbatten-Windsor may face growing calls “for the [rental] money to be repaid”, she added.

Andrew may not receive a compensation payment he is due for giving up his Royal Lodge lease early – which could amount to £301,967.

The Crown Estate previously said in a letter to MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that he is unlikely to receive this money because the building is in need of significant repairs.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, it [the rental income] will add to the pressure for him not to get any compensation,” said Andrew Moran, a professor of politics at London Metropolitan University.

“The public will be unhappy with profiting in any way from arrangements from when he was part of the Royal Family.”

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.”

They said 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”.

A Crown Estate spokesperson said the NAO report confirmed that leases with members of the Royal Family “were agreed in line with independent, professional advice and open-market valuations”.

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee are expected to grill officials further as part of their planned investigation on arrangements on royal residences.