Andrew won’t get $1m refund on Windsor home left in poor condition

Correspondence confirmed that Andrew would not receive any compensation for giving up the Royal Lodge due to the extent of repairs required.

Telegram Last month it said it would be denied any refund because it had failed to meet requirements for maintaining the vast property, which included ensuring the external stonework was in good repair every five years and the interior was painted every seven years.

Under the terms of the 75-year lease, Andrew would have been entitled to £488,000 ($982,000) if he terminated his contract early.

But the Crown Estate said the property was so dilapidated that it was “most likely” that it “will not be owed any compensation”.

He also acknowledged that an independent architect had been appointed to oversee maintenance but that inspections were carried out on a “need only” basis.

While Andrew still lives at the sprawling Windsor property, he remains responsible for ongoing maintenance and repair costs.

Elsewhere, it emerged the house was available for rent on the open market after Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson moved out of their home.

The documents also show Andrew maintained a lease with the Crown Estate on a boarding house occupied by a member of staff on the Sunninghill Park estate, his marital home.

Andrew sold the 12-bedroom mansion, which was a wedding gift from the late Queen Elizabeth, to Kazakh billionaire Timur Kulibayev in 2007 for £15 million – £3 million above the asking price – and it remained empty for almost a decade.

The spending watchdog also released information about Prince William and Princess Catherine’s lease at Forest Lodge, their new home in Windsor, Wales.

The couple, who moved into the property with their children in October, had a “20-year non-assignable lease” with the Crown Estate which started at an “open market rent” on July 5 this year, the committee said.

The deal was struck after the prince made an initial approach following talks with the royal family.

The Crown Estate said: “Negotiations were conducted on a mutual arm’s length basis to ensure favorable market conditions were agreed.”

While independent appraisers from the Hamptons and Savills real estate agencies were appointed to determine the value of the property, it was stated that the prince and princess received independent legal and property advice.

The documents also revealed that Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, who has been renting the 20.6-hectare Bagshot Park in Surrey from the Crown Estate for the last 25 years, also paid peppercorn rent.

The Duke paid £5 million up front for the 150-year lease, as did Andrew, who paid £8.5 million in initial costs between 2003 and 2005.

Meanwhile, II. Elizabeth’s cousin, Princess Alexandra, attended World War II in Richmond Park. He pays just over £2,700 a year to live in the grade-listed Thatched House Lodge.

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Clifton-Brown said the committee, after “reflecting” on the information provided, decided to launch an investigation based on information it received from the Treasury and the Crown Estate, as well as the National Audit Office, which recently updated a report it produced in 2005 examining the royal family’s leases.

The date of the first evidence session will be announced in due course.

Clifton-Brown said: “We would like to thank the Crown Estate commissioners and HM Treasury for their thoughtful responses to our questions.

“By publishing these responses, the public accounts committee is fulfilling one of its primary aims: to assist transparency in information in the public interest as part of its overall mission to secure value for money for taxpayers.

“Considering what we have received, the information provided clearly forms the beginning of the basis for an investigation. The National Audit Office (NAO) supports the investigative function of this committee.”

“We now await the NAO’s conclusions from this information and plan to conduct an investigation based on the emerging evidence base in the new year.”

Dan Labbad, Chief Executive of the Crown Estate, said: “We welcome news of the committee’s investigation. We have provided detailed responses to the committee’s questions to date and look forward to working with the NAO and responding to further questions to support the investigation process.”

The Crown Estate, a large portfolio of land and property, belongs to the monarch “by right of the Crown” but is not their private property.

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It is managed as an independent business and its profits are paid directly to the Treasury. Some of the money, known as the Sovereign Grant, is then given to the royal family to support their official duties.

Telegraph, London

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