Former prince Andrew made money from small houses on his unrented property – National
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, is making money by removing apartments from his royal household, where he has lived rent-free for two decades, according to a report on the properties of the royal family released by the UK public spending watch on Friday.
A report by the National Audit Office said the former prince had received money to rent three houses at Royal Lodge, “from the income of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” whose home is near Windsor Castle.
“These buildings have been vacant since April 2026,” it added.
It also said that her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, live in rented accommodation, owned by the Crown, and paid for by their uncle, King Charles III.
The rent for Eugenie’s house in the grounds of Kensington Palace in London and Beatrice’s house in St. James’s Palace, also in London, is set in the open market price range, which can vary widely, the study said. In both cases, the rents were paid out of the Privy Purse, the private funds of the King.
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Princesses are not considered “working” royals with public duties, and both serve other duties.
Eugenie is the director of the London branch of the international art gallery Hauser & Wirth. Beatrice is vice president of partnerships and strategy at US software and data analytics company Afiniti.
The Royal Lodge lease, signed in 2003, shows that Mountbatten-Windsor paid only a small amount, known as “peppercorn rent,” for the property, which includes a 30-room mansion and eight cottages, three of which are allowed to be installed.
The report shows that 11 members of the royal family were given free housing in the palace to carry out their public duties, including King Charles and Queen Camilla, Prince William and his wife Catherine, and the king’s younger brother, Prince Edward, and his wife Sophie.
William and Catherine also have a family home near Windsor, for which they pay 307,200 pounds (about CAD $571,000) a year, the Associated Press reported.
A policeman walks past the gates of the Royal Lodge in Windsor on February 19, 2026, after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali
The money the former prince made from the rental property was not disclosed in the report, which Margaret Hodge, a Labor member of the House of Lords, noted as cause for concern.
“It is appalling that the National Audit Office has not been able to find out how much money Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has received from the properties he has allowed,” she said.
The study was carried out at the request of lawmakers after Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of her royal titles and forced to leave her home amid revelations about her relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor moved earlier this year to Sandringham, a royal estate in the east of England.
He was arrested and questioned by the police in February for alleged misconduct in public office.
While Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing regarding her relationship with Epstein and has never been charged, concerns about her connection to the disgraced financier have dogged the royal family for more than a decade.
Buckingham Palace said the auditor’s office’s report “is in line with the royal household’s commitment to transparency. We hope the findings will help correct, clarify or set a few points about royal properties.”
— via files from The Associated Press
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