Prince Andrew gave up his royal titles, including that of the Duke of York, on Friday. The move came following several successive scandals, including his friendship with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy, with Andrew being back in the media this week due to his links with Cai Qi, a Chinese official at the centre of a collapsed spy trial. The move also came ahead of the publication of the late Virginia Giuffre's memoir, which contained passages alleging a sexual relationship with the prince when she was 17.
Andrew stepped away from his royal duties in 2019, but he has remained living at Royal Lodge, in Windsor, for the past several years, despite not making a public income. This has raised questions about how much money the former Duke of York owns. HELLO! has looked into the numbers to find out what Prince Andrew's net worth really is.
What is Prince Andrew's net worth?
While the royal's net worth has never been publicly shared, Celebrity Net Worth has reported that Andrew is worth £3.7 million. Last year, The Times reported that the 64-year-old had been able to raise the required money in order to continue living at Royal Lodge. The move was reportedly cleared by Sir Michael Stevens, the keeper of the privy purse, meaning that it had come from legitimate sources.
How has Prince Andrew earned his money?
Another uncertainty is how the royal has been able to generate his income, as it's believed that his only source of income is from his pension for when he served in the Royal Navy; which is worth £20,000 a year. While Andrew was cut off from the Sovereign Grant when he stepped away from his royal duties, the BBC reveals that beforehand, Andrew would have been able to earn a salary of £250,000.
In 2022, Andrew sold a luxury chalet in Verbier to British financier Philip Muelder for either "on or near" the asking price of £20 million. Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, had purchased the property in 2014 from Isabelle de Rouvre, who was a friend of the pair at the time. Similarly, in 2007, Andrew sold his Sunninghill Park home to Timor Kulibayev, who was the son-in-law of the then President of Kazakhstan, for £15 million.
© ShutterstockAndrew Lownie, who wrote a joint biography of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson indicated that some of the royal's funds may have come through connections that he made as a result of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Times reports him as saying: "As the duke himself admitted in his Newsnight interview, Jeffrey Epstein introduced him to useful business contacts.
"He also developed lucrative connections in Central Asia and the Middle East during his ten years as special representative for trade and investment. There have long been concerns about how he has since used those contacts. Now he is no longer a working royal, there is far less scrutiny of his business activities — but it is an area that needs to be looked at."
