Public ‘must know’ how Prince Andrew can be evicted from Royal Lodge, says former minister

Pressure is growing on the the Crown Estate to publish the full terms of Prince Andrew’s “cast iron” tenancy agreement, with one former minister saying the public must be told how he could be evicted.

Focus has turned back on Andrew’s 75-year lease of the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge in Windsor after another week of scandal, which has seen the royal announce he will no longer be known as the Duke of York.

It followed continued accusations over his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while extracts of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoirs contain more on allegations by they had sex on three occasions.

Prince Andrew, who has always stringently denied allegations involving Ms Guiffre, lives in Royal Lodge, which sits on an estate of 98 acres in Windsor Great Park and is leased from the Crown Estate.

And while on Monday, there were demands among some MPs for Parliament to remove his titles, pressure was also growing on the Estate to reveal more on the tenancy agreement amid growing calls for him to move out.

open image in gallery

Norman Baker, a royal author and former Liberal Democrat minister, said details of the contract should be made public, to see if there is a possibility he could be moved out.

He told The Times, he said: “The public at large are very clear that Andrew is disgracing this country and the royal family. If Andrew is not willing to move from Royal Lodge to a residence more befitting of his diminished status, it is clear the terms of the lease need to be brought forward into the public domain.

“All leases have some kind of break clause, so the public must know how he has been able to remain there, and on what terms he could be forced to leave.”

Speaking to the same outlet, royal author Andrew Lownie said: “I think it is important for transparency that the full details of that arrangement are made public and why the property — in effect public property — was only offered to him.”

open image in gallery

Some details on the agreement are known through a National Audi Office report in 2005, which said the decision on the lease was made as it was “appropriate in view of the over-riding need to maintain close management control over Royal Lodge”.

The report said Andrew approached the Crown Estate over the property following the death of the late Queen Elizabeth’s mother.

As part of the deal, Andrew paid an initial £1m and was required to carry out refurbishment work at an estimated cost of £7.5m. He was then told to pay a notional rental sum of £260,000.

At the weekend, ex-royal correspondent Jennie Bond told the BBC Prince Andrew had a “cast iron” deal to stay at Royal Lodge.

She said: “Should she be dislodged from Royal Lodge where he lives, this large house in Windsor, well he has a pretty cast iron tenancy agreement and that is difficult, the King has been trying to get him out.

“Andrew likes us all to believe he has a tendency to be rather too honourable. Well I do think the honourable thing might be to say, I will relinquish not only my titles… but I will also relinquish this rather large home. But I don’t see that happening.”

The Crown Estate has been approached by The Independent for comment.