Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor can legally remain in his Royal Lodge home for the next year, it has been revealed. The announcement that the former Duke of York would vacate his 30-room Windsor mansion came in October as the King stripped his younger brother of all of his titles, styles and honours.
The Crown Estate revealed on Tuesday that Andrew gave the minimum 12 months' notice that he would surrender Royal Lodge on 30 October – the day of the Buckingham Palace announcement.
While he potentially could stay for another ten months, it's expected that Andrew will move from Royal Lodge to a private property on the King's Sandringham estate in Norfolk early next year.
The report from the Crown Estate also revealed that Andrew is unlikely to receive any compensation after leaving his current Windsor home. If no end-of-tenancy repairs were required, Andrew would have been entitled to £488,342.21 for ending his tenancy on 30 October 2026. But the Crown Estate said that following an inspection of the property on 12 November it was thought unlikely that any compensation will be paid.
"Our initial assessment is that while the extent of end of tenancy dilapidations and repairs required are not out of keeping with a tenancy of this duration, they will mean in all likelihood that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will not be owed any compensation for early surrender of the lease… once dilapidations are taken into account," the Crown Estate said.
But "before this position can be fully validated however, a full and thorough assessment must be undertaken post-occupation by an expert in dilapidation".
© ShutterstockThe monarch's disgraced brother agreed to quit the 30-room mansion amid the furore over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual abuse made by the late Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by the financier – all of which Andrew vehemently denies.
The King had previously long tried to encourage Andrew, who shared Royal Lodge with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, to move out, but he had signed a watertight, 75-year lease on the property in 2003.
© WireImageHis leasehold agreement revealed he paid £1 million for the lease and that since then he paid "one peppercorn" of rent "if demanded" per year – a nominal amount that satisfies the legal requirements of the contract, but it is so low that its function is more symbolic than anything else.
It was also confirmed on Tuesday that the Commons committee is set to launch an inquiry into the Crown Estate following questions over its lease of Royal Lodge to Andrew.
