An official inquiry was today launched into the Royal Family’s Crown Estate properties following the scandal of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ‘peppercorn’ at Royal Lodge.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) announced a probe which will examine the value for money to taxpayers.
MPs on the committee had challenged the Crown Estate to outline how it was ensuring good value in relation to Royal Lodge. The disgraced former prince has lived in the grandiose 30-room home set in 98 pristine acres of Windsor Great Park rent free for two decades.
He pays just ‘one peppercorn (if demanded) per annum’ – according to his lease.
In October, the PAC demanded an explanation of Andrew’s living arrangements, in light of ‘serious and disturbing’ allegations against him.
Today the PAC published replies it has received from the Crown Estate and the Treasury. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the committee, said: ‘Having reflected on what we have received, the information provided clearly forms the beginnings of a basis for an inquiry.
‘We now await the conclusions the National Audit Office will draw from this information, and plan to hold an inquiry based on the resulting evidence base in the new year.’
In October, the PAC contacted the Crown Estate, which is responsible for the former prince’s lease agreements, questioning whether the favourable ‘one peppercorn rent’ arrangement on Royal Lodge remained appropriate.
Royal Lodge was leased from the Crown Estate, the profits of which are returned to the Government for public spending, which had made his ‘peppercorn’ deal all the more controversial.
A letter sent by Sir Geoffrey in October said: ‘There is considerable and understandable public interest in the spending of public money in relation to Prince Andrew, which in part stems from the fact that he is no longer a working royal, and from serious and disturbing allegations made against him.’
In particular, he asked the Crown Estate to justify Prince Andrew continuing to live at Royal Lodge saying: ‘The context for the lease of Royal Lodge has since changed significantly with the current occupant no longer serving as a working member of the Royal family or using their royal titles,’ Sir Geoffrey wrote.
‘It is reasonable, given these changes and at this point, that the committee seek assurance that the rationale for the lease justifies the minimal rent charged and that appropriate steps are being taken to enforce the terms of the contract to ensure the proper maintenance of the property.’
The PAC also wanted to know whether Andrew had fulfilled his obligations to repair and maintain the property without recourse to the public purse. Requesting up-to-date details of the lease, the PAC noted that ‘any reduced or foregone lease income, including from the Royal Lodge, reduces the Crown Estate’s annual surplus and therefore would be a cost to taxpayers’.
The PAC also asked: ‘Has The Crown Estate performed any work or services which are the responsibility of the tenant?’, and if so whether Andrew or taxpayers had funded it.
Andrew will move into exile at Sandringham in the New Year, meaning the disgraced royal will have one last Christmas in Windsor.
In October, he was stripped of all his Royal titles, including the title ‘prince’, after a leaked email published by the Mail on Sunday proved that he lied in his interview with BBC’s Newsnight when he claimed he ‘never had any contact’ with Jeffrey Epstein after the pair were famously pictured together in New York in December 2010.
Sandringham was chosen because it is the sovereign’s personal estate, meaning that Andrew’s living arrangements can be sorted – and, crucially, funded – completely privately.
* This is a breaking story. More follows
