Ex-Prince Andrew made money subletting 3 cottages on his rent-free estate: report

LONDON — The former Prince Andrew made money by subletting three cottages on the estate where he lived rent-free for two decades, according to a report on the royal family’s properties released Friday by the UK public spending watchdog.It also disclosed that his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, live in rent-controlled palace properties paid for by their uncle, King Charles III.The National Audit Office report said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received income from renting out the cottages on the Royal Lodge estate, his home near Windsor Castle for more than 20 years.A lease for Royal Lodge signed in 2003 shows he paid only a nominal fee known as a “peppercorn rent” for the property, which included a 30-room mansion and eight cottages, three of which he was allowed to sublet.The amount of income was not included in the report, an omission that Margaret Hodge, a Labour member of the House of Lords and former head of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, said was concerning.“It’s shocking that the National Audit Office was not able to establish how much money Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor secured from the properties he let,” she said.The audit office review was carried out at the request of lawmakers after Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles and evicted from Royal Lodge by his brother, the king, following revelations about his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Mountbatten-Windsor moved earlier this year to the king’s Sandringham Estate in eastern England.In February, the former prince, 66, was arrested and questioned by police about allegations of misconduct in public office.

Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and has not been charged.The audit office report shows that 11 working royals receive free housing within palaces in return for their official duties.They include the king and Queen Camilla, Prince William and his wife Catherine, and the king’s youngest ...