Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor won’t get money back from Royal Lodge

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is unlikely to receive any compensation after leaving the Royal Lodge at Windsor, according to information published by the Public Accounts Committee.

As part of the lease deal Andrew would have been entitled to £488,000 for the early surrender of his 75-year lease.

But a report by the Crown Estate’s public spending watchdog to MPs says the property is so dilapidated it is in need of repairs and “in all likelihood” Andrew “will not be owed any compensation”.

Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said MPs would now launch an inquiry into the Crown Estate and royal leases.

Sir Geoffrey said the information from the Crown Estate “clearly forms the basis of the investigation” which will begin next year and look into property rentals with the Crown Estate and the Royal Family.

It is not yet known whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will be called to give evidence.

Information provided by the Crown Estate also showed that Andrew gave his notice to the property on October 30, the day it was announced that he had lost his titles.

He gave a year’s notice and could stay for a further 10 months but is expected to move from Royal Lodge to Sandringham in Norfolk early next year.

MPs on the cross-party committee wanted to know details of Andrew’s financial arrangements for the Royal Lodge and whether taxpayers’ interests were appropriately protected.

Andrew had taken on a 75-year lease of the Royal Lodge in 2003, making a down payment of more than £8.5 million to cover renovation costs and to avoid any rent requirements based on a notional rent of £260,000 per annum.

There was also a token “pepper” payment, in which an advance payment was made in lieu of rent, which the Crown Estate said was standard practice for long leases.

A clause allowed him to get back some of his advance payments if he left within 25 years, but this was contingent on the maintenance of the property.

The report states that the Royal Lodge’s current condition is “not contrary to the tenancy during this period” but that the cost of repairing the “dilapidations” means any refund is unlikely.

A letter from Crown Estate commissioners to MPs says the terms of the Royal Lodge deal are generally “fair, reasonable and in line with market practice”.

The spending watchdog also released information about the Prince and Princess of Wales’s new Windsor home, Forest Lodge, saying it was acquired on a 20-year lease from the Crown Estate.

The couple, who moved in this autumn, are said to be paying “open market rent” using levels agreed by independent valuers.

There had been pressure on Andrew, 65, to move from his Windsor home for more than a year in what became known as the Siege of the Royal Lodge.

King Charles had left financial support to his brother, but Andrew had a private lease that he had shown no sign of relinquishing.

But following growing public backlash over his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew was stripped of titles such as Duke of York and his princely status, becoming Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

As part of the announcement in October, Andrew was also to leave Royal Lodge and move to other accommodation at Sandringham, the King’s private estate in Norfolk.

Andrew has also faced calls from Democratic members of the US Congress to provide evidence to a committee investigating Epstein’s activities.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor did not respond to the request by the end of a deadline last month.