The former Prince Andrew, today known simply as citizen Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, sublet to service staff three of the small dwellings (cottages, in the English expression referring to a small country house) integrated into Royal Lodge, the immense complex that the favorite son of the late Elizabeth II enjoyed for free on the royal property of Windsor.
Read more A teacher from Alcoi is assaulted when preventing an unauthorized man from picking up a student
The UK National Audit Office (NAO) revealed this Friday, in a report unusual in British politics, some of the housing arrangements and payments of members of the royal family. It is the first time in two decades that this independent supervisory body has investigated and published the real estate expenses and income of the Windsor family. The scandal surrounding Andrew’s enjoyment of a luxury residence, at the expense of the public purse, forced the NAO to carry out a new audit.
Andrew, whom his brother, King Charles III, has already sent to a smaller dwelling, enjoyed a residence of 30 rooms, six small dwellings for service staff, and 40,000 square meters. It was called Royal Lodge, in Windsor.
The prince paid one million pounds (around 1.15 million euros or 1.33 million dollars) in 2003 for his rent until 2078. And 7.5 million pounds (8.6 million euros; 10 million dollars) for renovation works. Since then, however, he has not paid a single additional pound sterling for the use of the dwelling by him, his wife, Sarah Ferguson, and his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie.
The contract, in fact, clearly states that “the rent shall be one peppercorn (peppercorn, in the original English) per year, if demanded”. The expression is commonly used to describe a symbolic rent, which for all intents and purposes is non-existent.
The Windsor complex is managed by the so-called Crown Estate, the private public management entity, controlled by the Government, which manages the properties of the British royal house and delivers part of its dividends to the House of Windsor for its protocol and representation expenses.
The NAO report does not reveal the exact income that the former Duke of York may have obtained from subletting the three houses, but Buckingham Palace sources have told the BBC that these would be the amounts necessary to cover maintenance costs, charged to current or past staff who stayed in the dwellings. The text does not indicate at any point that Andrew had incurred any illegality with these contracts.
Beneficial Arrangements and Agreements
The report reviews the contractual situation of 12 dwellings in use by members of the British royal family.
For example, the NAO points out how the king pays from his private fund, the so-called Duchy of Lancaster (which manages lands, exploitations, and leases), the rental expenses of his brother’s two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie. In the case of the former, the use of an apartment in St. James’s Palace for which a value equivalent to 68% of the average market price is paid. Eugenie, for her part, enjoys her particular cottage within the grounds of Kensington Palace, in London, with a rent that is 55% of the market price.
The report also indicates that the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, have a 20-year rental contract to enjoy Forest Lodge, a residence also nestled within the Windsor complex, to which the Crown Estate allocated more than half a million euros in renovations before the couple and their children moved in last year. The rent, just over 360,000 euros per year, is covered by the family’s assets.
Read more Catalan teachers return to strike after rejecting the pre-agreement with the Government
