MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have recommended that the Crown Estate prohibit sub-letting as standard, following revelations that Prince Andrew received income from renting out cottages at his former home, Royal Lodge.
The committee launched an inquiry into the Crown Estate and properties managed by the Royal Household after it emerged that Andrew, stripped of his titles over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, had sublet cottages at the Crown Estate property while paying a peppercorn rent for more than two decades.
Inquiry findings and recommendations
The committee also called for the Royal Household to implement a consistent policy for setting rent in its residential properties, after Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie had adjusted rents, paid for by the King for accommodation in royal palaces, based on out-of-date open market valuations for a number of years.
The report, published on Friday, revealed that Andrew sublet one cottage at below market rate to an in-situ tenant who worked for the royal family for most of the 22-year tenancy. From late 2021, for an undisclosed period of less than a year, he sublet three cottages in total, generating a combined income, before maintenance and expenses, of just over £2,000 a month. The rent figures were said to be reflective of a percentage of salary and below market rates.
Details from the King's treasurer
The new details were revealed in a letter from James Chalmers, the Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King, to the PAC, with the information obtained from "the Household of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor" and shared "in the interests of transparency and openness".
"This is with the agreement of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor," the letter dated September 7 2026 read, and added: "While you kindly suggested at the hearing that you would be willing to treat this information in confidence, I can confirm that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is content for it to be in the public domain."
However, the total sub-letting income amount received by the former prince over the past two decades was not divulged and cannot be calculated accurately from the information. Mr Chalmers wrote that he had "not had access to the underlying documentation or historical records" but shared his understanding on the matter.
Royal Lodge lease and future use
Andrew, who now lives on the monarch's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, officially surrendered his lease on Royal Lodge last month. The King privately paid the mansion's £1.5 million repair and restoration costs to the Crown Estate after £302,000 compensation was deducted from the £1.8 million bill for Andrew giving up the lease early.
The PAC said the Crown Estate "did not identify specific lessons from the Royal Lodge lease arrangement". It described the Estate as "reluctant to discuss specifics on how it is applying lessons learned from this process or discuss what they will do differently in the future, due to the Royal Lodge lease being a product of its time".
The future use of Royal Lodge has yet to be decided, but the PAC said the Crown Estate will "need to consider the lessons learned to inform future use and leasing arrangements for Royal Lodge".
Crown Estate response
The committee's recommendations did not completely rule out sub-letting of Crown Estate properties in the future, but said a standard provision in leases should prohibit it, unless the landlord, the Crown Estate, agrees.
The Crown Estate is an independent £17 billion property, land and seabed portfolio which returns its profits to the Treasury for public spending. It is owned by the monarch "in right of the Crown", meaning that while the King owns the estate during his reign, it is not his private property and he does not manage or make decisions about its assets.
A spokesperson for The Crown Estate said: "The PAC report is an important part of our accountability to Parliament. We are considering its findings and recommendations and will respond to the Committee in due course."
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: "We are grateful to the Public Accounts Committee and its members for their work on this inquiry. We acknowledge the Committee's recommendation and will carefully consider it as part of our commitment to continuous improvement."
