Prince Andrew may be persona non grata in the royal family, but he’s still living large.
The former Duke of York, who stepped down from royal duties and renounced his titles over sex abuse allegations concerning his friendship with financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has effectively been living rent-free at the Royal Lodge at Windsor Estate for the past 22 years, according to a copy of Andrew’s lease agreement obtained Tuesday, Oct. 21 by USA TODAY.
While Prince Andrew paid £1 million ($1.3 million) for the 2003 lease, as well as at least £7.5 million (approximately $10 million) for refurbishments completed in 2005, the property is now held on a peppercorn rent, according to a statement from the Crown Estate, the British monarchy’s property management body.
In English contract law, a “peppercorn” is a metaphor for a very small cash payment or other nominal consideration established for a binding legal contract.
Amid mounting scrutiny of his alleged ties to Epstein, including damning claims brought forth in accuser Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir “Nobody’s Girl,” Andrew renounced his royal titles on Oct. 17 due to the continued accusations against him and the distraction they pose to the royal family.
As part of the rental agreement’s 75-year term, Prince Andrew and his family are allowed to remain at the Royal Lodge until 2078, per the lease. Andrew’s ex-wife is Sarah Ferguson, former Duchess of York. The pair share two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
USA TODAY has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.
Rebuilt in 1840, the Royal Lodge is a Grade II listed house located in Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, England, 3.2 miles south of Windsor Castle. The 30-room estate was the previous residence of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, mother of Queen Elizabeth II. Andrew and his family moved to the property in 2004 following Elizabeth’s 2002 death.
Prince Andrew entitled to over $700K if he ends Royal Lodge lease, report says
Prince Andrew benefits from his royal rental arrangement in more ways than one.
If Andrew, 65, were to terminate his lease, the Crown Estate would be required to pay him around £558,000 (approximately $746,000), according to The Sunday Times.
Additionally, the lease states that an annual “compensatory sum” of £185,865 (approximately $248,000) would be owed to the prince until he reached the 25th year of the agreement in 2028.
Per The Sunday Times and BBC, it was previously reported that Andrew was required to pay a “notional rent” of £260,000 (approximately $348,000) per year from 2003, in addition to committing to fund refurbishment of the property worth £7.5 million (approximately $10 million). According to The Times, payment of the notional rent would only be enforced if Andrew failed to maintain the property’s refurbishment.
Andrew’s brother, King Charles III, cut off the disgraced prince financially in 2024 when he removed Andrew’s £1 million ($1.3 million) annual allowance, leaving him with a £20,000 (approximately $26,000) naval pension, according to The Times. However, it was reported in November 2024 that Andrew had raised sufficient funds from “legitimate sources” to maintain his residence at Royal Lodge.
Viriginia Giuffre alleges sexual abuse by Prince Andrew, Epstein in posthumous memoir
In “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice” (out Tuesday, Oct. 21), Giuffre details her accounts of being purportedly sex trafficked by Epstein and his longtime associate, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, to several prominent men as a teenager.
The sex-trafficking advocate, who died in April, filed a sex abuse lawsuit against Andrew in 2021, alleging that she had been trafficked to the British royal family member by Epstein three times around 2001 when she was underage. Andrew settled the suit in 2022, although he has vehemently denied the allegations.
One of Giuffre’s alleged encounters with Andrew occurred during a trip to London when Giuffre was 17 and the prince was 41. At the encouragement of Maxwell, Giuffre said she drew a hot bath for herself and Prince Andrew, after which the pair had sex.
Giuffre said Epstein later paid her $15,000 for “servicing the man the tabloids called ‘Randy Andy.'” The outspoken accuser reflected that she “hadn’t wanted to have sex with the prince” but felt obligated, in part, because she “believed there was no way for me to free myself from Epstein and Maxwell’s grip.”
“He was friendly enough but still entitled — as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright,” Giuffre wrote of Andrew. “The next morning, it was clear that Maxwell had conferred with her royal chum because she told me: ‘You did well. The prince had fun.'”
How to read more about Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre’s alleged relationship
“Nobody’s Girl” will be available for purchase on the Penguin Random House website starting Tuesday, Oct. 21. The book is also available to order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Bookshop.org, Hudson Booksellers, Powell’s, Target and Walmart, according to the Penguin Random House website.
Contributing: Greta Cross and James Powel, USA TODAY
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usatoday.com ’
