Campaigners have called for a public inquiry into all royal finances after a National Audit Office (NAO) report revealed that Prince Andrew received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Royal Lodge estate while paying a “peppercorn rent”. The report, published on Friday as part of a public accounts committee inquiry, found that the rental income went to the former duke but stated: “We do not know what rent was charged.”
The anti-monarchy group Republic and former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker said they would press the public accounts committee for a full investigation. Republic described the subletting as a “flagrant abuse of public property” and argued that the entire royal family was “benefiting from a multimillion-pound public housing scheme”. Baker called for an investigation into “all royal finances, not just Andrew’s”, adding: “I am happy to open this can of worms.”
The NAO report also revealed that Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who do not perform royal duties, live in royal palaces with their rent paid privately by King Charles, adjusted or discounted due to security vetting requirements. Two organisations, the Crown Estate and the royal household, provide properties to members of the royal family. The Crown Estate, a £15bn portfolio, is held by the monarch but runs independently, with profits paid to the Treasury. A portion of these profits, the sovereign grant, funds royal official duties.
Under his long lease for Royal Lodge, Prince Andrew paid a £1m premium and £7.5m for renovations in 2003, with a peppercorn rent thereafter. Subletting provisions were included in the lease but are not automatic, and most Crown Estate residential properties are on long leases. Sources suggested that the subletting did not generate a profit, with rent set only to cover maintenance and running costs for staff living there, but no further details have been made public.
Norman Baker estimated that Prince Andrew could have been receiving £30,000 a year for each of the three cottages before surrendering the lease. He challenged the former duke to disclose the actual amount. Baker also highlighted other royal financial arrangements, including Prince Edward leasing out a stable block and the Duchy of Cornwall’s plans to lease Dartmoor prison to the Ministry of Justice.
