DISGRACED Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s “peppercorn” rental agreement for his 30-room Royal Lodge mansion is to be probed by Parliament.
And, while Andrew prepares to move out in the New Year, investigators are set to examine leases that the Crown Estate gives other members of the Royal Family.
Andrew, who was stripped of all his royal titles, will be given another grace-and-favour home, on his brother the King’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
But the Royal Lodge debacle has highlighted just how many properties are available to the royals, from the tip of Scotland to Romania, where Charles has a home in Dracula country Transylvania.
When Charles became King three years ago, many royal watchers wondered whether he would crack down on his relatives living in grand homes for free or paying just a peppercorn rent — a knock-down nominal rent of “one peppercorn, if demanded”.
It has already been revealed Prince Edward and wife Sophie now only pay a paltry sum for their 120-room mansion at Bagshot Park, Surrey, where they have lived since 1998.
The new Duke of Edinburgh took out a 50-year-lease on the Surrey estate for £5,000 a year and paid a “market value” rent until 2007 when they were given a peppercorn rent.
Sophie and Edward do their share of royal duties, often travelling on long foreign engagements representing the King, who is still being treated for cancer and cannot be away for more than a few days at a time.
But compare their contribution to Andrew and Fergie’s daughter Princess Eugenie. With her husband Jack Brooksbank and their sons, August, four, and two-year-old Ernest, she lives at Ivy Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.
The couple, who also have a home in Comporta, Portugal, use the pretty three-bedroom cottage with its white picket fence as their base in London and may move in permanently when August starts attending school.
Ivy Cottage is next door to Nottingham Cottage, where Prince Harry and Meghan began their life together.
Meanwhile, Eugenie’s sister Beatrice with her husband, multi-millionaire Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and daughters Sienna and Athena, live in St James’s Palace during the week.
Beatrice and Edoardo also have a sprawling six-bed Cotswold farmhouse worth around £3.5million that they bought in 2021.
Sarah Ferguson’s representative has dismissed reports that the former Duchess will soon live in a converted cowshed at Beatrice’s home, which has been turned into guest accommodation.
Beatrice’s neighbour at St James’s Palace is Princess Anne, the hardest- working member of the family.
The Princess Royal, 75, who performed more than 450 engagements last year, had an apartment at Buckingham Palace which is currently undergoing major renovations.
Now she and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, use St James’s Palace for their overnight stays in London.
Meanwhile at Windsor, where Harry and Meghan’s old home Frogmore Cottage still stands empty, William and Kate have just moved into Forest Lodge — their “forever” home, where they pay a market rent.
They also have a huge 20-room wing of Kensington Palace, Apartment 1A, which they use when they are in London and as offices for their team, with staff bedrooms on the top floor of the four-storey building.
It has three main bedrooms with en-suite, and dressing rooms.
It was here that Prince George in his dressing gown, age two, met President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
Royal author Robert Jobson says: “William and Kate have dropped hints that when they become King and Queen they will still live at Forest Lodge.
‘Decoration is beautiful’
“And I expect Apartment 1A, which used to be Princess Margaret’s home, will be where they stay in town even when William is monarch.”
While Wills and Kate are full-time working royals, some of their Kensington Palace neighbours are no longer doing their bit for King and country.
Apartment 10 at KP — as the Palace is known by the royals — is home to the late Queen’s cousin, the 53rd in line to the throne Prince Michael of Kent, 83, and his wife Marie-Christine, 80.
Ingrid Seward, Editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine says of the property: “The decoration is beautiful.
“But Princess Michael does not believe in keeping up with trends and it still has the same carpets, wall colours and decor.
“She did it herself and just touches things up when needed.
“They have a lavish Indian tent at one end of the walled garden where they do most of their ‘big’ entertaining.
“Previously this was Princess Diana’s walled garden, with a huge magnolia tree and a lily pond.”
The Duke of Kent, whose wife Katharine died in September, has lived at Wren House, a five-bedroom cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace, since 1978.
It has been the Duke’s permanent home since 1998.
Before that he lived at Anmer Hall, now one of Kate and William’s homes — a wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth in 2011.
The Duke of Kent, who will travel to Coventry on Friday with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to mark the 85th anniversary of the Blitz, is still working age 90.
Another of Queen Elizabeth’s cousins, The Duke of Gloucester, 81, and wife Birgitte have also lived at Kensington Palace since their marriage in 1972.
They resided in the 21-room Apartment 1 in the Palace for nearly 50 years before moving in 2019 to the Old Stables after a £400,000 renovation, including a full upgrade of the electrics.
The King’s 20,000-acre Sandringham Estate, where Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will be exiled, includes properties in 13 Norfolk villages which it lets out.
A permanent home for Andrew has not been confirmed yet but, as Sandringham is one of the monarch’s private estates, this deal with his brother will not come under scrutiny.
MPS LIVING IT UP, TOO
DOZENS of politicians and top civil servants live for free in some of the most expensive real estate in Britain – as a lavish perk of the job.
DAVID LAMMY
WHEN Lammy was axed as Foreign Secretary, he held on to his £25million grace-and-favour flat at No1 Carlton Gardens, above, the poshest of all ministerial residences. He did hand back Chevening House, a 15-bed grace-and-favour mansion near Sevenoaks.
RACHEL REEVES
AFTER surviving as Chancellor, Reeves still lives for free with her husband and two daughters in the flat at No10 Downing Street. Reeves also has Dorneywood, above, a 21-room, eight-bedroom mansion in Buckinghamshire as her weekend home.
Sir LINDSAY HOYLE
THE Commons Speaker lives in one of the finest residences inside the Palace of Westminster. He has a four-bedroom private grace-and-favour flat in Speaker’s House, with spectacular views over the River Thames, on the second floor in the northern towers.
Leave a comment