Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, made money by subletting cottages at his royal residence, where he lived rent-free for two decades, according to a report on the Royal Family’s estates published by the UK’s public spending watchdog on Friday.
The National Audit Office report said the former prince had received income from the rental of three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate, “with income generated payable to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor”, his home near Windsor Castle.
“These properties have been vacant since April 2026,” he added.
He also said his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, reside in rent-controlled homes owned by the Crown and paid for by their uncle, King Charles III.
The rents for Eugenie’s cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace in London and for Beatrice’s home in St. James’s Palace, also in London, are set at a portion of the free market value, which can vary significantly, the audit says. In both cases, the rents are paid from the Privy Purse, the King’s private funds.
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The princesses are not considered “working” royals with public duties, and both have other jobs.
Eugenie is director of the London branch of the international art gallery Hauser & Wirth. Beatrice is the vice president of partnerships and strategy. at US software and data analytics firm Afiniti.
A lease for Royal Lodge, signed in 2003, shows Mountbatten-Windsor paid only a nominal fee, known as “peppercorn rent,” for the property, which included a 30-room mansion and eight cottages, three of which he was allowed to sublet.
The report shows that 11 royals are granted free accommodation in palatial properties in exchange for their public duties, including King Charles and Queen Camilla, Prince William and his wife Catherine, as well as the king’s younger brother Prince Edward and his wife Sofia.
William and Catherine also have a family home near Windsor, for which they pay 307,200 pounds (about $571,000 Canadian) a year, The Associated Press reported.
A police officer walks past the gate of the Royal Lodge in Windsor on February 19, 2026, following the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali
The amount the former prince earned from the rental properties was not disclosed in the report, an omission flagged by Margaret Hodge, a Labor member of the House of Lords, as a cause for concern.
“It is surprising that the National Audit Office has not been able to establish how much money Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor made from the properties he leased,” he said.
The audit was carried out at the request of lawmakers after Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles and forced to leave his home amid revelations about his alleged ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor moved earlier this year to the Sandringham estate, a royal residence in eastern England.
Police arrested and questioned him in February over allegations of misconduct in public office.
While Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to her links to Epstein and has not been charged, concerns about her links to the disgraced financier have dogged the Royal Family for more than a decade.
Buckingham Palace said the audit office’s report “is in line with the royal household’s commitment to transparency. We hope the findings will help to correct, clarify or contextualise a number of points relating to royal estates.”
– with files from The Associated Press
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