Prince Andrew has not paid money for renting his royal lodgings in the 22 years he has been living there, as his agreement instead demands a strange and specific form of payment.
The late Queen Elizabeth II's second son has given up all of his royal titles over the 'continued accusations' made against him concerning the details of his connections with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A posthumous book from Virginia Giuffre, released today (21 October), contains her account of allegedly meeting Prince Andrew. They had reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022, in which he admitted no liability.
Speaking of the relinquishing of his royal titles besides prince, Andrew continued to 'vigorously deny the accusations against me'.
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Now, The Times has reported that Andrew hasn't paid rent on his mansion on the Windsor Estate since he signed a deal to live there in 2003.
The newspaper obtained a copy of the Royal Lodge leasehold agreement, which stated Andrew had paid £1 million for the lease and at least £7.5 million on the refurbishments, but as far as annual rent was concerned, he didn't pay a monetary amount.
That's because the annual rent on the Royal Lodge asks for rent in a way most tenants could only dream of, with the leasehold agreement stating: "Rent means one peppercorn (if demanded) per annum."
So that's a peppercorn a year, only if someone cares to ask him for it, while his family are able to live in the property until 2078.
Calls on him to give up the mansion within the next few years would also result in him getting a payout, as The Times reports that if he gives up the lease before he's been in the house for 25 years, then he gets £185,865 for each year until then.
Essentially, if he goes out now, then he'd get almost £558,000 in compensation since it's another three years until 2028.
The Times reported that it had previously been understood that Andrew paid a 'notional rate' of £260,000 per year, but the agreement states that he only had to pay that if he'd failed to complete the renovations on the place.
The details of the leasehold agreement and the rent of one peppercorn a year, if requested, help explain how Andrew can afford to live there, with his brother King Charles cutting off his £1 million allowance last year.
At this point, his only declared income is a £20,000-a-year naval pension, and since he is no longer a working royal, he is no longer meant to get money from the Sovereign Grant.
According to The Mirror, Prince Andrew is also supposed to be paying £3 million a year in security while he lives at the Royal Lodge.
LADbible Group contacted Prince Andrew's representatives for comment.
Topics: Prince Andrew, Royal Family, UK News, Money
Joe Harker