Former prince Andrew made money on cottage sublets at his rent-free estate – National

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, made money subletting cottages at his royal residence, where he lived rent-free for two decades, according to a report on the Royal Family’s properties released by the U.K. public spending watchdog on Friday.

The National Audit Office report said the former prince had received income from renting out three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate, “with income generated payable to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” his home near Windsor Castle.

“These properties have been vacant since April 2026,” it added.

It also said his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, reside in rent-controlled homes, owned by the Crown, and paid for by their uncle, King Charles III.

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The rents on Eugenie’s cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace in London and Beatrice’s home at St. James’s Palace, also in London, are set at a portion of the open-market value, which can vary significantly, the audit says. In both instances, rents are paid out of the Privy Purse, the King’s private funds.

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The princesses are not considered “working” royals with public duties, and both work other jobs.

Eugenie is a director at the London branch of the international art gallery Hauser & Wirth. Beatrice is the vice-president of partnerships and strategy at the U.S. software and data analytics firm Afiniti.

A lease for Royal Lodge, signed in 2003, shows Mountbatten-Windsor paid only a nominal fee, known as a “peppercorn rent,” for the property, which included a 30-room mansion and eight cottages, three of which he was allowed to sublet.

The report shows that 11 royals are granted free housing on palace properties in exchange for their public duties, including King Charles and Queen Camilla, Prince William and his wife Catherine, as well as the king’s youngest 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.

The amount the former prince made from the rental properties was not disclosed in the report, an omission noted by Margaret Hodge, a Labour member of the House of Lords, as a cause for concern.

“It’s shocking that the National Audit Office was not able to establish how much money Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor secured from the properties he let,” she said.

The audit was conducted at the request of lawmakers after Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles and forced to vacate his home amid revelations about his alleged ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mountbatten-Windsor moved earlier this year to the Sandringham estate, a royal residence in eastern England.

He was arrested and questioned by police in February over allegations of misconduct in public office.

While Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with his ties with Epstein and has not been charged, concerns about his links to the disgraced financier have dogged the Royal Family for more than a decade.

Buckingham Palace said the audit office report “is in line with the royal household’s commitment to transparency. We hope that the findings will help correct, clarify or contextualize a number of points regarding royal properties.”

— with files from The Associated Press

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