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Prince Andrew — who recently renounced his title as Duke of York amid ongoing allegations linking him to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — has been living rent-free in his 30-room Royal Lodge home in Windsor for more than two decades.
According The timeswho obtained a copy of the Royal Lodge lease, Andrew paid £1 million for the lease, plus at least £7.5 million for renovations completed in 2005. He has paid “a grain of pepper (if asked)” in rent per year since 2003, the outlet reported.
He and his family, including Sarah Ferguson, have the right to live on the property until 2078.
However, if Prince Andrew were to give up his lease early, the British newspaper reported that The Crown Estate would owe him a “compensatory sum” of around £185,865 per year, for a total of more than £557,595, until the 25-year deal ends in 2028.
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Prince Andrew has been living rent-free in his 30-room Royal Lodge home in Windsor for more than two decades. (Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Fox News Digital has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
While the public is “outraged” by the circumstances, it is “very” doubtful the disgraced royals can be evicted, according to royal experts.
“There is tremendous public displeasure that he lives basically rent-free for 22 years“royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. “But that lease was his mother’s and it has an extensive duration. I highly doubt he can be legally evicted. My prediction is that he will receive such immense pressure because the monarchy will see the public outrage and he will be pressured by Prince William to leave. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see it end up somewhere in the Middle East.”
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“People are outraged, but the Crown Estate is independent,” added royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams. “The lease gives him 75 years. He has paid £1 million for the lease and £7.5 million for repairs. As long as he can comply with its terms, which involve renewing it periodically, he cannot be legally evicted despite the terrible optics of him and Sarah Ferguson living in a 30-bedroom mansion, both in disgrace, in Windsor.”
“They could go to Abu Dhabi or Switzerland,” Fitzwilliams said. “Since it no longer provides him with a subsidy or finances his security and the Palace has not acted for him since his misfortune in 2019, “There are no levers that the king, who wants to downsize Frogmore Cottage, can use to enforce this.”
Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have lived at the Royal Lodge for 22 years. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
If they are forced to leave Royal Lodge, royal expert Ian Pelham Turner said, Andrew and Ferguson will have no problem settling elsewhere.
“If, and it’s a big if, Andrew and Sarah are forced to leave Royal Lodge, there are plenty of rich people with suitable empty properties who can support them both in the UK and in Portugal with their daughter and potentially in the Middle East. My feeling is that the King will find suitable accommodation and the whole matter will be kept secret.”
The Sunday Times previously reported that Andrew raised enough money to live at Royal Lodge. The property is worth $38 million. According to the outlet, the prince’s funds were approved by the Keeper of the Privy Purse as coming from “legitimate sources.”
Royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that she highly doubts Prince Andrew “can be legally evicted. My prediction is that he will come under such immense pressure because the monarchy will see the public outrage and Prince William will pressure him to leave.” (Getty Images)
Last year, the Mail on Sunday Editor-at-large Charlotte Griffiths claimed that King Charles was the secret source who paid Andrew’s rent, allowing him to stay at his palatial home Royal Lodge.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of “My mother and I” agreed with Griffiths’ scoop. Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at the time.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Charles is the one providing the money to Andrew because of the [late] “The queen would not have left Andrew helpless,” Seward told Fox News Digital.
“She would have made a provision for him, and perhaps that provision came through her older brother as monarch,” he shared. “When the king dies or the queen dies, the money goes to the next monarch. Everything goes to the next monarch. So, she would have made provisions for Andrew before she died, or she would have made provisions through Charles.”
“I think Charles is helping him,” Seward continued. “I don’t see who else would do it. I’m sure [Andrew’s ex-wife] Fergie would help him. I know Fergie does very well with her books, but [can’t] I imagine she would earn enough to run the Royal Lodge on her own.
Last year, the Mail on Sunday’s editor-at-large claimed that King Charles was the secret source paying Andrew’s rent, allowing him to stay in his palatial Royal Lodge home. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
“…I certainly think the only person who could really be doing this is the queen’s money or the king’s money,” he said.
Griffiths states that, according to “multiple sources”, the king “personally paid his wayward brother’s bills for his upkeep and promised that his problems at the Royal Lodge would be resolved, allowing him to remain there for the foreseeable future.”
In the wake of Virginia Giuffre’s claims that she was forced to have multiple sexual encounters with Andrew after being a victim of sex trafficking by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell as a teenager, her family has called on King Charles to strip the disgraced royal of her last remaining title.
Ahead of the release of her sister’s posthumous memoir, “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, and his wife, Amanda, expressed their wishes during an appearance on “ITV.”This morning“.
Virginia Giuffre’s family is calling on King Charles to strip Prince Andrew of all royal titles in the wake of Giuffre’s explosive claims. (Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
“I think we need to reopen the investigations,” he said. “I think the UK authorities have documentation to support the ability to bring people to justice, including Prince Andrew. And I think just because you have the word ‘Prince’ in front of your name, it doesn’t mean there is a different set of laws for you.”
“Everyone needs to be held to the same standard, and on that count, because I truly believe that if Prince wasn’t in front of his name, he would be behind bars right now, honestly,” she said.
On Friday, Andrew issued a statement as excerpts from Giuffre’s book began to appear. The statement was issued through Buckingham Palace.
“In discussions with the King and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded that the continued allegations about me distracted me from the work of Her Majesty and the Royal Family,” Andrew’s statement read. “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and my country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to step away from public life.”
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King Charles III is facing increasing pressure to exile Prince Andrew as more details continue to emerge about the disgraced royal’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. (Getty Images)
“With Her Majesty’s agreement, we feel that I must now take another step,” the statement continued. “Therefore, I will no longer use my title or the honors conferred upon me. As I have previously stated, I strongly deny the allegations against me.”
In 2021, Giuffre filed a sexual assault lawsuit in New York against Andrew, who denied all allegations. The royal claims he never met her and the photo of them together could be fake.
In 2022, he settled with Giuffre for an undisclosed sum and agreed to make a “substantial donation” to her survivor organization. British media, including The Telegraph, reported that the settlement amounts ranged from $6 million to $16 million.
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Fox News Digital’s Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
