Andrew entitled to £9000-a-year state pension

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor is eligible for a state pension thanks to his military service. Photo / Getty Images

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor will be eligible to claim a taxpayer-funded state pension next year, worth around £9000 annually ($20,723).

There is nothing to stop the late Queen’s son drawing the pension, which he is entitled to because he served in the Royal Navy for more than 22 years. A royal source said: “It’s up to him”.

The King is similarly entitled to the state pension because of his own employment service, also in the Navy, but he donates the full amount to Age UK.

The true extent of Andrew’s wealth has long been a mystery, once described by one royal financial expert as being “shrouded in a pea soup of impenetrability”.

Last autumn, the King withdrew his younger brother’s annual allowance, as well as additional funding for his security, in an effort to smoke him out of Royal Lodge, his Windsor home.

The tactic failed when Andrew insisted he had other sources of income, although one potentially lucrative deal that had involved selling access to networks built up through his Dragons Den-style initiative Pitch@Palace has since been abandoned.

Last month, the King agreed to reinstate Andrew’s annuity and will fund his upkeep from his own private purse in return for his leaving Royal Lodge, a Crown Estate property, and moving to live on the privately owned Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

He will also receive a one-off, six-figure relocation fee.

However, Andrew’s tastes for the finer things in life may prompt him to take up his state pension when he turns 66 in February.

Tom Selby, director of public policy at the investment platform AJ Bell, said: “Like millions of people, Andrew will be entitled to the state pension based on the number of National Insurance qualifying years he built up while working.

“Based on his employment record, that should mean he is entitled to around £9000 a year, although it will be up to the former prince whether he chooses to claim this or not.”

Andrew served in the Navy from May 1979 until July 2001 and saw active service during the Falklands War in 1982.

State pensions are paid for life and increased each year. The amount received in state pension payments is complex and depends on how many “qualifying” years of National Insurance contributions (NICs) have been made.

The full new state pension is £230.25 ($530.12) a week but requires 35 years of NICs.

With 23 years’ worth of contributions, the starting point for Andrew’s state pension calculation would be £151.31 a week. However, that amount would be reduced under the “contracting out” rules, as he also paid into a Navy pension. Under these rules, he is likely to be eligible for £135.28 in state pension payments a week.

However, it is not too late for Andrew to boost his state pension should he wish.

If a state pension is reduced, it is possible to pay extra NICs to fill in the missing years up until the tax year before turning 66.

In Andrew’s case there are six years’ worth of additional payments he could make. Doing so would boost his pension by £39.47 a week, taking it to £174.75 a week or £9087 a year.

From April, state pensions will increase by 4.8% under the triple lock. This guarantees pensions rise by the highest of earnings, inflation or 2.5%. From April 2026, therefore, Andrew’s state pension could rise to around £9500 a year.

Actuaries estimated that if Andrew claimed his pension, boosted it, and lived until 85 he could receive around £210,000.

He is also entitled to a Navy pension worth an estimated £20,000 a year.

Andrew’s office was contacted for comment.

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