Andrew ‘unlikely to receive compensation for leaving Royal Lodge’ – Crown Estate

A Commons committee is to launch an inquiry into the Crown Estate following questions over its lease of Royal Lodge to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Andrew could be entitled to £488,342.21 compensation for giving up the mansion in Windsor Great Park although the Crown Estate believes he will not receive a penny due to the state of the property.

The Crown Estate also provided MPs with details of other properties occupied by senior royals, including the Prince and Princess of Wales’ new home Forest Lodge, which was leased on “appropriate market terms”.

William and Kate will pay an “open market rent” during a 20-year common law tenancy on the property.

Meanwhile, Andrew paid a peppercorn rent for the 30-room Royal Lodge which he agreed to leave amid the furore over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Details of the property arrangements were provided to the Commons Public Accounts Committee by Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbad.

Andrew gave the minimum 12 months’ notice that he would surrender the Royal Lodge on October 30.

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.

Dilapidations 

“Our initial assessment is that while the extent of end of tenancy dilapidations and repairs required are not out of keeping with a tenancy of this duration, they will mean in all likelihood that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will not be owed any compensation for early surrender of the lease… once dilapidations are taken into account,” the Crown Estate said.

But “before this position can be fully validated however, a full and thorough assessment must be undertaken post-occupation by an expert in dilapidation”.

As well as details of the Royal Lodge and Forest Lodge properties in Windsor Great Park, the Crown Estate also provided information on other homes including the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh’s Bagshot Park and Thatched House Lodge in London’s Richmond Park.

Public Accounts Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “Having reflected on what we have received, the information provided clearly forms the beginnings of a basis for an inquiry. The National Audit Office (NAO) supports the scrutiny function of this Committee.

“We now await the conclusions the NAO will draw from this information, and plan to hold an inquiry based on the resulting evidence base in the new year.”

Responding to the PAC’s announcement of a new inquiry into The Crown Estate, a Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: “Plaid Cymru welcomes the announcement by the Public Accounts Committee of an inquiry into the Crown Estate, following the publication of correspondence regarding Royal Lodge leases.

“The ongoing use of secretive and preferential property arrangements for members of the Royal Family is unacceptable. The Royal Lodge lease was agreed decades ago and no longer reflects what the public rightly expects in terms of fairness and transparency.

“More broadly, this entire episode highlights once again the outdated and unaccountable nature of the structures surrounding the monarchy’s property holdings. Plaid Cymru has long argued for full transparency, democratic oversight, and reform of Crown property arrangements – including the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales, as is already the case in Scotland.”