King Charles III paid £1.5 million to cover outstanding dilapidation and repair costs owed by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after he vacated the crown-owned Royal Lodge. The Crown Estate announced the lease’s end, marking the conclusion of a chapter for the 30-room Windsor estate.
Royal Lodge Vacated as Lease Ends Early
The Crown Estate confirmed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has fully vacated the historic 30-room property near Windsor Castle. Assessors calculated that Mountbatten-Windsor faced a £1.8 million repair bill to restore the sprawling estate, which includes several outbuildings, gardens, and large grounds requiring extensive restoration work.
Ex-Prince Andrew Returns Keys to Royal Lodge as King Charles Loans His Brother $2 Million for Repairs https://t.co/pH0CtnuIBy
After Mountbatten-Windsor was forced to move out of the property, assessors found Royal Lodge needed £1.8m repairs.
Under the terms of his original 75-year lease signed in 2003, Mountbatten-Windsor was entitled to compensation for surrendering the property within the first 25 years. Independent advisers and assessors determined he was owed £302,000 for giving up the lease ahead of schedule. That credit lowered his overall financial obligation to the net amount of £1.5 million.
The lease for Royal Lodge has ended and our focus now is firmly on its future use and the opportunities to generate additional financial value for the nation from its early return.
Crown Estate, via Smh
The Crown Estate stated that the property will now be marketed for its future use by two nationally recognized agents to generate additional financial value for taxpayers.
King Charles Steps In to Cover the Debt
To ensure the Crown Estate was paid promptly, King Charles III loaned his brother £1.5 million from his private income. Insiders close to the palace indicated that the sovereign believed he had obliged
himself to provide the funds so the Crown Estate would be settled without delay, ensuring Mountbatten-Windsor avoided placing any strain on taxpayer funds.
The private loan follows a series of changes within the family. Last year, the monarch stripped his brother of his right to be a prince and of his dukedom as public scrutiny intensified over his association with Jeffrey Epstein. Those developments coincided with the release of millions of pages of documents by the US Justice Department detailing Epstein’s connections.
Mountbatten-Windsor originally took over Royal Lodge in 2003 as a working member of the royal family while serving as Britain’s special trade representative. The initial agreement required him to spend £7.5 million on renovations and make a one-time payment of £1 million, after which he lived on the estate paying a peppercorn rent for over two decades.
Legal Challenges and Ongoing Police Investigations
The settlement of the repair bill unfolded alongside separate legal battles. Earlier in the year, following his departure from the Windsor mansion, Mountbatten-Windsor moved to a home on the King’s privately owned Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Shortly after his relocation, Thames Valley Police arrested him on suspicion of misconduct in public office amid allegations that he shared sensitive information with Epstein during his tenure as trade envoy.
Police conducted an 11-hour interrogation and searched both Royal Lodge and his new residence in Sandringham, seizing electronic devices and documentary material. However, a High Court judge announced that lawyers for Thames Valley Police and Mountbatten-Windsor agreed that the search warrants used in the raid were unlawful. Mr Justice Hilliard, sitting at the High Court in central London, noted that police conceded they obtained the search powers under the incorrect statutory provision.
While Thames Valley Police confirmed that their investigation remains active, palace sources insisted that the King’s loan for the Royal Lodge repairs and the former prince’s independent legal defense fund for the judicial review are entirely separate matters. When questioned regarding the timeframe for repayment of the ‘loaned’ funds by Andrew, representatives for the palace indicated that the matter was strictly ‘a private matter’ between His Majesty and Mr Mountbatten-Windsor. Buckingham Palace maintained that none of the monarch’s funds may be used to finance the ongoing court proceedings.