What National Audit Office report reveals about royals’ property affairs

A report that revealed Windsor" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="1300" data-entity-type="person">Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Royal Lodge estate in Windsor while paying a peppercorn rent to the crown estate also shines a spotlight on the property arrangements of other members of the royal family.The National Audit Office findings include the revelation that King Charles foots the bill for Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s accommodation in royal palaces, despite both being “non-working royals” (in that they don’t carry out royal duties), and that the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh also benefited from subletting their crown estate property.1. Princess Beatrice and Princess EugenieThe daughters of Windsor" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="1300" data-entity-type="person">Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who do not perform royal duties, live rent free in occupied royal palaces. Rent on Beatrice’s St James’s Palace apartment is currently set at 68% of open market value. Rent on Eugenie’s Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace is set at 64%.King Charles pays both rents out of his private Duchy of Lancaster income, continuing an arrangement made by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, which is kept under regular review. Rent is adjusted because the properties are behind security cordons requiring security vetting for tenants.Both royals have private properties: Beatrice a converted Cotswold farmhouse close to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire; Eugenie a seaside property in Comporta, Portugal.Maintenance and operational costs of occupied royal palaces are met by public funds through the sovereign grant, which pays for the royal family’s official duties and the upkeep of royal palaces. Sources say rent paid for the two properties by Charles reimburses any publicly-funded expenditure with no additional cost to the sovereign grant. Eugenie is said to have undertaken refurbishments of her Kensington Palace property at her own expense.2. Duke and Duchess of EdinburghEdward and Sophie pay a “peppercorn rent” after signing a long lease of 150 years in 2007 for Bagshot Park in Surrey, with an upfront payment of £5m to the crown estate. They also held a previous lease from 1998 to 2007, with a committed restoration spend of £1.38m. They also have a rent-free apartment at St James’s Palace, London, managed by the royal household, in return for performing royal duties.Under their crown estate lease, they are entitled to sublet on the Bagshot Park estate, and generated private income by commercially letting out the stable complex until 2020.It is understood they invested significant capital to convert the stable block to let it out. Of two further units within the stables footprint, one is used by member of staff and their family at a rate in line with the household’s policy for staff, while another is a storage facility which has previously been used by the Royal Collection Trust, but is not currently in use.3. Prince and Princess of WalesWilliam and Catherine pay £307,200 annual rent on Forest Lodge, a crown estate property in Windsor on which they took out a 20-year lease last year with no upfront deposit because they are paying for all internal refurbishment costs.The crown estate funded repairs at the mansion, two of three cottages on the site, the barn and the grounds in line with its obligations as a landlord totalling £396,993, immediately before they moved in, in line with its duties as landlord. The couple also have a lease on Staff Lodge 1 on the Windsor estate, which has an annual rent of £19,800 and is occupied by a staff member.In addition they have a large rent-free apartment at Kensington Palace, managed by the household, as well as Anmer Hall, a private mansion, reportedly with 10 bedrooms, on the king’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.4. Prince and Princess Michael of KentThe late Queen’s cousin, and his wife Marie-Christine, who are in their 80s, live in a Kensington Palace apartment with rent also being paid by Charles. There was a public outcry in 2002 when it emerged they paid a peppercorn rent of just £69 a week to live in Apartment 10, maintained by the taxpayer, despite not carrying out royal duties. MPs on the Commons’ public accounts committee demanded they pay full rent, but the couple argued that Queen Elizabeth II had given them the use of the palace as a wedding present.The then queen offered to pay a commercial rate rent of £120,000 a year on their behalf, until they had to find the sum themselves after the end of 2009. It would appear that towards the end of the seven-year deal, the queen agreed to continue the private funding, and Charles has continued the arrangement. It is not known exactly how much the current rent is – but it has now increased 34% between 2020 and 2026, and is 63% of a 2026 open market valuation, the NAO said.5. Princess Alexandra and her daughter Marina OgilvyThe late Queen’s cousin Princess Alexandra, 89, lives in Thatched House Lodge in Richmond Park, which is leased to THL Trust. She currently pays an annual ground rent of £1,500, which alters depending on time lapsed, after a premium payment of £670,000 in 1995, following a previous lease in 1971. Her daughter Marina Ogilvy has an assured shorthold tenancy on a cottage on the Windsor estate, and pays an annual rent of £17,436.