The National Audit Office revealed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received andrew mountbatten-windsor rental income from sub-letting three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate. The report said the income was undisclosed and did not state how much he received.
Andrew left Royal Lodge earlier this year and moved to Sandringham in Norfolk, but he still has the lease on the property until October 2026. His lease allowed the three nearby cottages to be sub-let, and he sub-let them until April 2026.
Royal Lodge lease details
The Royal Lodge estate was leased by Andrew from the Crown Estate. The reported that he paid £7.5m for repairs when he took on the lease, a payment that meant he did not have to pay a monthly rent. The also said palace sources suggested he rented the cottages to staff or retired staff, and that the amount was only enough to cover running costs.
The report gives the first clear public detail on a financial arrangement attached to Royal Lodge: three cottages, a sub-let permitted by the lease, and rental income that was not disclosed in the report. It adds a specific line item to a wider picture of royal housing arrangements that had been under review.
Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice
The same report said Princess Eugenie has a property in Kensington Palace and Princess Beatrice has a property in St James’s Palace. Both are not working royals, do not pay rent for their central London accommodation, and their accommodation is paid by the privy purse to the Royal Household.
Both palaces are maintained by public funding through the Sovereign Grant. A palace spokesperson said, “We are grateful to the National Audit Office for this report, which is in line with The Royal Household’s commitment to transparency.”
The spokesperson also said, “We hope that the findings will help correct, clarify or contextualise a number of points regarding Royal properties.” The report said arrangements for properties managed by the Royal Household vary based on location, tenants and purpose.
For readers tracking Royal Lodge, the key fact is that the lease still runs until October 2026, while the sub-letting arrangement ran until April 2026. That leaves the property’s recent use and its financial terms documented, even as the rental figure itself was left out of the report.
