Public ‘must know’ how Prince Andrew can be evicted from Royal Lodge, says former minister
Pressure is mounting on the Crown Estate to publish the full terms of Prince Andrew’s “cast iron” lease; A former minister said the public should be told how he could be released.
Following the scandal, which resulted in the royal announcing he would no longer be known as the Duke of York, the focus has returned to Andrew’s 75-year lease of the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge in Windsor.
This follows ongoing accusations regarding her relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; Excerpts from Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoirs contain more information about the allegations that they had sex three times.
Prince Andrew, who has always staunchly denied the allegations involving Ms Guiffre, lives at Royal Lodge, which sits on 98 acres in Windsor Great Park and is rented from the Crown Estate.
While there were demands among some MPs on Monday for his titles to be stripped, pressure was also growing for more information about his lease on the Estate amid growing calls for him to be moved.
Royal author and former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker said details of the contract should be made public and it needed to be seen whether he was likely to be sacked.
he said TimesHe said: “Public opinion is very clear that Andrew has brought disgrace to this country and the royal family. “Unless Andrew is willing to move from the Royal Lodge to housing more appropriate to his diminished status, it is clear that the terms of his lease must be made public.
“All leases have some type of termination clause, so the public needs to know how he was able to stay there and the terms on which he might be forced to leave.”
Speaking to the same publication, royal writer Andrew Lownie said: “I think it is important for transparency that the full details of this arrangement are made public and why the property (essentially public property) is being offered to him alone.”
Some details of the agreement are known through the National Audi Office report In 2005, it was stated that the decision to lease was made because it was “appropriate given the need to maintain close management control over the Royal Lodge”.
The report stated that Andrew applied to the Crown Estate for the property following the death of the late Queen Elizabeth’s mother.
As part of the deal, Andrew initially paid £1 million and was required to carry out renovation work at an estimated cost of £7.5 million. He was then told to pay a notional rent of £260,000.
Over the weekend, former royal correspondent Jennie Bond told the BBC that Prince Andrew had made a “cast iron” deal to stay at the Royal Lodge.
He said: “He’s got a pretty cast-iron lease in case he’s evicted from the Royal Lodge where he lives, this big house in Windsor, and it’s difficult, the King is trying to get him out.”
“Andrew likes us all to believe that he tends to be extremely honorable. I think the honorable thing would be to say: I’ll give up not only my titles… but also this rather large house. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Crown Estate approached. Independent for comment.
