Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sublet Royal Lodge cottages to boost private income – despite paying peppercorn rent

A new audit reveals Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor rented out three properties on the Royal Lodge estate to boost his private income for more than 20 years, even though he was paying “peppercorn rent” himself.

As part of his rental agreement with The Crown Estate (TCE), the former prince was allowed to rent three of the eight cottages while occupying the 30-room main estate, and did so while pocketing the rents, an investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.

It is not known how much income the former Duke of York earned or who rented them. According to auditors, all tenants had vacated the cottages by April of this year.

The former prince was ordered to leave the Windsor estate mansion and was officially stripped of his royal title in October 2025 following controversy over his links to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. He denies any wrongdoing.

The NAO investigation sheds light on the royal family’s property arrangements, sparked by controversy over the disgraced former duke’s lease and the revelation that he had paid almost no rent since 2003. The report also covers the housing deals of the Prince and Princess of Wales and Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

It reveals:

Following the publication of the NAO report, Rachael Maskell, Labor MP for York Central, said: “Every revelation about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor shows how he led to depravity [sic] alienated him from his position and used it for his own benefit at the expense of others. “It’s frustrating that he’s only paid a peppercorn rent while people are struggling to pay their rent.”

Former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker described the regulations as “outrageous”. “This shows an absolute disdain for taxpayers that not only can Andrew be able to extract some rent for a huge property, but he is also potentially making millions by renting out the properties,” he said. “The money should have gone to the Crown Estate, not his pocket.”

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, who was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office following allegations that he leaked sensitive government information to Epstein while serving as UK trade envoy, moved to Wood Farm on King Charles’s privately owned Sandringham Estate. He is living at Marsh Farm, which will be his permanent home, while it is being renovated.

The report, which details properties paid for by the private purse, including Princess Beatrice’s stay at St James’s Palace and Princess Eugenie’s Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace, said rents were generally set at around 60 per cent of the open market rate, but this was not always applied consistently, the report said.

The king’s nieces, Eugenie, 36, and Beatrice, 37, are non-working royals and both have jobs, and Beatrice is married to a multimillionaire real estate agent. While the watchdog said it was private, no details of how much the King paid for the rents were released.

The Prince and Princess of Wales pay an annual rent of £307,200 for their home at Forest Lodge, which is reviewed every five years, according to the report. It showed the couple had signed a “20-year short-term lease” which included quarterly rent payments totaling £76,800 and no upfront deposit as they paid for all internal refurbishment costs.

Before William and Kate moved in, the Crown Estate, in line with its obligations as landlords, provided funds of £396,993 towards the repair of the mansion, two of the three cottages on the estate, a barn and grounds.

The couple’s tenancy, II. It includes a grade-listed Georgian house, gardens, a 7.4-hectare paddock, a stable and three staff cottages. They face rent reviews with increases of between 3 and 5 per cent every five years in line with the Consumer Price Index.

Other findings suggest Edward and Sophie, Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, like Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, are able to rent houses on the Bagshot Park estate and earn private income by renting their stables to a third party by 2020.

The report’s findings will now be presented to MPs on the public accounts committee as part of a wider investigation triggered by revelations about the former Duke’s rent arrangements. The investigation is expected to take place later this year.

A spokesperson for The Crown Estate said: “The Crown Estate welcomes the National Audit Office’s review, which confirmed that leases with members of the royal family were agreed on the basis of independent, professional advice and open market valuations. We look forward to discussing the report in more detail with the public accounts committee in due course.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the report was “consistent with the Royal Household’s commitment to transparency” and that they hoped the findings would “help to correct, clarify or contextualise some points relating to the Royal properties”. “As the report notes, regulations for properties managed by the royal family vary according to a number of factors, depending on their location, tenants and purpose, to ensure they are appropriately occupied.”

Kensington Palace, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have been contacted for comment.