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A recent report published by the National Audit Office (NAO) has brought to light details about the management and use of royal properties connected to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his family. According to the findings, Andrew received rental income from sub-letting three cottages located on the Royal Lodge estate, which he leased from the Crown Estate. While the exact amount of rental income was not disclosed, palace sources indicate the tenants were mainly staff or former staff members, and the income generated was only sufficient to cover running costs. Notably, this rental income went directly to Andrew rather than the Crown Estate, whose profits are typically returned to the Treasury.
The NAO report also revealed that the King pays the rent on accommodations in royal palaces occupied by Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, Andrew’s daughters, who do not perform official royal duties. Princess Eugenie resides at Kensington Palace, while Princess Beatrice’s residence is at St James’s Palace. The rent is paid from the “privy purse,” which constitutes the personal funds of the monarch, and these palaces are upheld through public funding via the Sovereign Grant. This arrangement has drawn criticism from figures such as Norman Baker, a former Home Office minister. Baker labelled the subsidy of luxury accommodation for non-working royals as “outrageous,” warning that public tolerance for such support is diminishing.
The report also confirms that Mountbatten-Windsor and his household occupied a total of 12 properties owned by the Crown Estate or the Royal Household. Though he moved out of Royal Lodge earlier this year to Sandringham in Norfolk, his lease on Royal Lodge remains active until October 2026. Besides the main Royal Lodge building, there are eight additional nearby properties, three of which were sub-let by Andrew under the terms of his lease until April 2026. While the report was instigated following a scandal involving Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and will be examined further by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee, it does not allege any wrongdoing on his part.
Beyond these details, the report highlights other aspects of royal accommodation. For instance, before the Prince and Princess of Wales moved into Forest Lodge in Windsor, the Crown Estate funded nearly £400,000 in repairs. Additionally, Princess Michael of Kent, another non-working royal, also resides in a property at Kensington Palace funded by the privy purse. Among working royals, eleven have rent-free accommodations in royal palaces in return for their official roles. Meanwhile, twenty-one other royal office holders, including several military knights, also benefit from rent-free residence. The NAO report refrains from making value-for-money assessments, aiming instead to provide a detailed factual account of management and leasing arrangements to inform parliamentary scrutiny. Lee Summerfield, director of the NAO, emphasized that the report’s purpose is to lay out processes and arrangements in a transparent manner, a sentiment echoed by palace representatives who welcomed the report as aligned with the Royal Household’s commitment to openness
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