Royal Lodge subletting defended as 'best value' by Crown Estate
DIRECT ANSWER: In scrutiny of andrew mountbattenwindsor subletting inc at Royal Lodge, Crown Estate chief Dan Labbad told MPs the 2003 lease offered "best value for money." He said the £1 million premium, £7.5 million refurbishments, and potential cottage income were weighed in an independent valuation before the peppercorn-rent deal was approved.
Key Takeaways
- The Crown Estate defended Royal Lodge lease terms at a Monday Public Accounts Committee hearing.
- Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sublet three cottages for over 20 years while paying peppercorn rent.
- A National Audit Office report last month revealed undisclosed private income from the subletting.
- Officials could not say how much Andrew earned, though the royal household may supply figures.
- Andrew has vacated Royal Lodge and moved to Marsh Farm on the King's Sandringham estate.
Why are MPs questioning Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's Royal Lodge deal?
The scrutiny follows a National Audit Office investigation published last month. It revealed that the late Queen's second son received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Royal Lodge estate for more than two decades, while paying only a peppercorn rent.
Those payments came to light after Andrew, stripped of his titles over links to Jeffrey Epstein, was compelled to vacate his Windsor home. The hearing on Monday formed part of the Public Accounts Committee's wider inquiry into Crown Estate management and governance.
For readers tracking luxury real estate and dream homes, the Royal Lodge case shows how lease terms on historic estates can draw intense political scrutiny.
What did the Crown Estate tell MPs about the subletting arrangement?
Dan Labbad, chief executive of the Crown Estate, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee to defend the controversial 2003 arrangement. He told MPs that subletting was "reasonably common" in the property industry for long leaseholds.
"In the case of Royal Lodge, the £7.5 million in refurbishment costs, we were able to then take that money that we would otherwise have to spend, and invest in other things," Mr Labbad said. He added: "Those potential income streams were taken into account in determining what best value was at the time."
His leasehold agreement showed Andrew paid £1 million for the lease and subsequently paid "one peppercorn" of rent "if demanded" per year. He was also required to pay a further £7.5 million for refurbishments completed in 2005.
Mr Labbad said the governance process in 2003 examined the premium, refurbishment needs that would otherwise have been a Crown Estate cost, and other elements. "Within that, subleasing of the cottages was part of the independent valuation that informed both the consideration and the value for money requirements being satisfied," he said.
How much did Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor earn from subletting the cottages?
That figure remains unknown. Mr Labbad was questioned on how much Andrew made from the subletting, but said he did not have that information and that it was a matter for the former duke as the tenant.
James Chalmers, the King's keeper of the privy purse and treasurer, suggested the royal household could obtain the figure. He told MPs: "What I can say is the role we played with the NAO report, which we can play here, was we gathered the information from the other households, and I believe if the request were made for that information, we could provide it to the National Audit Office and therefore to the committee … We can get it."
PAC chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the household could provide the amount in confidence to the NAO if it did not want the figure more widely shared. Full details are in the Independent's reporting on the hearing.
Where is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor living now?
Andrew has relocated to Marsh Farm on the King's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, following significant public outcry over the favourable rent he had been paying at Royal Lodge. The NAO probe also found the King covers accommodation costs for Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie in royal palaces, despite both being non-working royals.
Questions over andrew mountbattenwindsor subletting inc are unlikely to fade quickly. MPs are pressing for transparency on how Crown Estate properties are leased, valued, and managed when tenants can generate private rental revenue on public land.