Andrew granted £302,000 compensation after Royal Lodge lease surrendered
Josh Payne, Press Association Chief Reporter
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been granted £302,000 in compensation after the lease on his former Royal Lodge home in Windsor was officially surrendered.
A Crown Estate spokesperson said the former prince paid £1.8 million in repair and restoration costs as the lease was handed back more than 50 years early.
Andrew was entitled to compensation because, as per the terms of his lease, he surrendered it within the first 25 years.
In December last year, the Crown Estate told MPs it was not believed Andrew would receive compensation for the early surrender of the lease once repair and restoration costs were taken into account.
In the letter to the Commons Public Accounts Committee, the Crown Estate added: “Before this position can be fully validated however, a full and thorough assessment must be undertaken post-occupation by an expert in dilapidation”.
The Crown Estate spokesperson said: “The lease for Royal Lodge has ended and our focus now is firmly on its future use and the opportunities to generate additional financial value for the nation from its early return.”
A compensation clause was added into the terms of the lease because of Andrew’s 2005 payment of £7.5 million for refurbishment at the 30-room property, the spokesperson added.
The former Duke of York moved out of the Windsor mansion earlier this year as files related to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein were released by the US Department of Justice.
He was forced to move into Marsh Farm on the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, amid public outcry about the rent he paid on the Royal Lodge.
In June, a National Audit Office investigation revealed that the late Queen’s second son received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate while paying a peppercorn rent for more than two decades.
The Crown Estate spokesperson said the property will now be marketed by two nationally recognised agents for its proposed future use.
The official surrendering of the lease comes a day after the High Court heard Andrew and Thames Valley Police agreed that raids of two of the former prince’s properties were unlawful.
Andrew could face months in limbo as he remains in a legal battle over whether evidence obtained during searches at the Royal Lodge and his residence on the Sandringham Estate can be used in the force’s investigation into alleged misconduct in public office.
He was arrested on February 19, his 66th birthday, following allegations he shared sensitive information with Epstein during the former Duke of York’s time as the UK’s trade envoy.
Andrew was interviewed under caution before being released under investigation, and denies wrongdoing, with police inquiries ongoing.
A Buckingham Palace source previously confirmed he had been told not to use money from the annual stipend provided from the King’s private funds to finance the legal action.
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So what. It was in the terms of the lease and represented the residual value not enjoyed. The press and others have spouted nonsense about what is a normal commercial arrangement.
Believe me, no matter what he has done, Mountbatten Windsor will be taken care of and not suffer in any way. The “Establishment” will make sure of that. He is probably as spoiled, rude and demanding as ever.
Windsor is a disgusting and inadequate individual who will always be protected by ‘his own’.
They never think of the victims.
The royal family can get lost. Every single one of them. Liz didn’t lob 12mil at this person without asking why.
Liz didn’t pay anything . . . but we did. The media go on about the royals paying for things from their ‘private income’ but I’d like to know how they earn that? Every penny they have has been given to them from us . . . the taxpayer!! I think they have had enough from us now. Even if we stopped paying them they could probably survive in luxury for thousands of years using what they already have.
The Royal family really is a strange phenomenon. I kind of get why Reform are so keen to keep them, but it really is time to move away from kings, queens, funny outfits etc.
Eternal Victimhood Of The Groomer Mindset. Not the one starring Jim Carrey. People in my area refer to him as “n***e Andrew”.