The true state of shamed Andrew’s Royal Lodge home has been revealed and with an investigation launched into the Crown Estate, a royal expert believes it will have caused nerves among the royals
12:00, 07 Dec 2025Updated 12:05, 07 Dec 2025
A probe into the Crown Estate in the wake of the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal could prove ‘uncomfortable’ for other royals, according to an expert. A powerful group of MPs who form the Public Accounts Committee are set to launch an inquiry after details of former prince Andrew’s rent deal for his crumbling Royal Lodge home emerged, causing public outrage.
When shamed Andrew was stripped of his titles in October, he was also booted out of his Windsor mansion after it was revealed he was barely paying rent to the Crown Estate for the property. The lucrative peppercorn rent prompted the public spending watchdog to investigate as profits from the Crown Estate go back into the public purse, leading to fears taxpayers could be missing out on value for money.
READ MORE: Fergie ‘plots fresh move’ for ‘independent life’ as clock ticks on Royal Lodge evictionREAD MORE: King Charles tactfully refuses to answer tricky question during unexpected gameWilliam may have to deal with the fallout of Crown Estate leases, according to an expert (Image: PA)
And with it also now emerging that other royals, including the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, also having peppercorn rent deals, royal expert Jennie Bond believes it’s time to be transparent – and the fallout may have to be dealt with a future king William.
She told the Mirror : “Although I don’t think the family will be jumping with joy at the prospect of a comprehensive rent review, I think they will accept that it’s high time that the monarchy’s finances were more transparent.
“In my opinion, it’s also time that the family’s property portfolio should be substantially reduced. And I think William will be the one to do that, if nothing has changed by the time he becomes King. For now, though, they will have to accept that their rents are being scrutinised.”
In initial answers from the Crown Estate to the Commons committee, it emerged that Andrew looks set to lose £500,000 in compensation after surrendering the lease on the property to go and live on the King’s private Sandringham estate – with the move believed to be happening after Christmas.
Andrew will leave Royal Lodge next year (Image: AP)
If no end-of-tenancy repairs were required, Andrew would have been entitled to £488,342.21 for ending his tenancy on October 30, 2026. But the Crown Estate said that following an inspection of the property on November 12, it was thought unlikely that any compensation will be paid.
Meanwhile, in the information provided by the Crown Estate, it also emerged that unlike Andrew, the Prince and Princess of Wales are paying market rent for their new home Forest Lodge.
It said William and Kate, who moved into their property with their children in the October half term, hold a “a 20-year non-assignable lease with The Crown Estate for Forest Lodge, commencing 5 July 2025” and have “open market rent”.
William and Kate’s new home of Forest Lodge on the Windsor estate(Image: Getty Images)
And Jennie added while William and Kate may have nothing to fear, the other royals will probably not receive any public sympathy. She added: “The findings could be uncomfortable for some of them, but as far as we know William and Catherine have little to fear in regards to their new home because they are said to be paying a market rent for Forest Lodge.
“But if they or others are found to be paying peppercorn rents, as Andrew did at Royal Lodge, then I think they’ll have to accept it’s time to stump up.
“None of them can possibly pretend to be impoverished. By normal standards, they are all extraordinarily wealthy and perfectly able to pay a market rent — or move to somewhere smaller if they don’t want to. I don’t think they should expect, or receive, any public sympathy about this.”
At the end of October, the King officially stripped his disgraced brother Andrew of his HRH style and his prince title, and removed his dukedom from the Roll of the Peerage over his “serious lapses” of judgment.
The move followed the publication of a posthumous memoir by Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, and the US government’s release of documents from Epstein’s estate.
It emerged that Andrew had emailed Epstein in 2011 saying “we’re in this together”, three months after he claimed he had broken all contact with the paedophile. Andrew denies all wrongdoing.
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