Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is unlikely to receive any compensation for vacating Royal Lodge before the end of his lease because the property is in such a poor state, according to information given to the Commons Public Accounts Committee by the Crown Estate.
Andrew was entitled to £488,342.21 for ending his tenancy on October 30, 2026, but the former prince is unlikely to receive any of it due to the number of repairs needed, the Crown Estate said.
MPs have launched an inquiry into Andrew’s lease arrangements with the Crown Estate after the Public Accounts Committee published letters from the Crown Estate and the Treasury on Tuesday.
The Crown Estate also provided MPs with details of other properties occupied by senior royals, including the Prince and Princess of Wales’ new home Forest Lodge, which was leased on “appropriate market terms”.
Andrew paid £1 million for the lease of Royal Lodge in 2003, and then he paid an annual peppercorn rent. Andrew gave the minimum of 12 months’ notice that he would surrender the property.
Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “In publishing these responses, the Public Accounts Committee fulfils one of its primary purposes – to aid transparency in public-interest information, as part of its overall mission to secure value for money for the taxpayer.
“Having reflected on what we have received, the information provided clearly forms the beginnings of a basis for an inquiry. The National Audit Office supports the scrutiny function of this Committee.
“We now await the conclusions the NAO will draw from this information, and plan to hold an inquiry based on the resulting evidence base in the new year.”
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The 30-room mansion is ‘dilapidated’, says Crown Estate
In a briefing to MPs on the Public Accounts Committee, a spokesperson for the Crown Estate said: “Our initial assessment is that while the extent of end of tenancy dilapidations and repairs required are not out of keeping with a tenancy of this duration, they will mean in all likelihood that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will not be owed any compensation for early surrender of the lease… once dilapidations are taken into account.”
The spokesperson added: “Before this position can be fully validated, however, a full and thorough assessment must be undertaken post-occupation by an expert in dilapidation.”
Prince and Princess of Wales paying ‘market rent’ on Forest Lodge
The Crown Estate also revealed details of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s lease on their new home, Forest Lodge, in Windsor Great Park.
William and Kate will pay an “open market rent” during a 20-year common law tenancy on the property.
Negotiations were conducted on an arm’s length basis, to ensure appropriate market terms were agreed,” the Crown Estate said.
Meanwhile, Andrew paid a peppercorn rent for the 30-room Royal Lodge, which he agreed to leave amid the furore over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
It said independent valuers from Hamptons and Savills estate agents were appointed to value the property, and William and Catherine received independent legal and property advice, as did the Crown Estate.
“The lease for the Property was concluded on a 20-year Common Law Tenancy at an open market rent subject to standard Landlord & Tenant repairing obligations.
“The rent was assessed by Savills and Hamptons acting on behalf of the Crown Estate. Knight Frank acted for TRH’s the Prince and Princess of Wales,” the Crown Estate said.
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