The National Audit Office is set to help scrutinise Prince Andrew's rent-free arrangement at Royal Lodge. Photo / Getty Images
The National Audit Office is set to help scrutinise Prince Andrew's rent-free arrangement at Royal Lodge. Photo / Getty Images
The public spending watchdog is poised to help examine Prince Andrew’s finances after mounting pressure for him to move out of Royal Lodge.
The National Audit Office (NAO) is expected to help MPs scrutinise the arrangements that allowed the prince to live rent-free in his grace-and-favour home for more thantwo decades.
Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, has previously called for a review of the NAO’s report on the deal from 2005, which found the Lodge could have generated hundreds of thousands of pounds if it had been let out.
The prince is facing growing pressure to give up his 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park after it emerged he had paid only a “peppercorn” rent at the property for more than 20 years.
Sir Keir Starmer backed demands for fresh scrutiny of the deal last week.
MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which interrogates government spending, will be putting questions to both the Treasury and the Crown Estate, which manages the royal portfolio and pays its profits to the public purse, in the coming days. It has not committed to a full parliamentary inquiry.
On Sunday, the NAO told The Telegraph it was poised to assist MPs.
Asked if it would consider reviewing its 2005 report into the Royal Lodge deal, the NAO said: “The Comptroller & Auditor General is in discussion with the Public Accounts Committee on this matter and will provide support as required.”
Sources added that the PAC’s work was still at the fact-finding stage and it was not clear what support would be required from the NAO.
In its 2005 report, the NAO reviewed the lease arrangements at Royal Lodge, concluding that the Lodge could have achieved a minimum rent of £260,000 ($600,000) a year – equivalent to almost half a million pounds in today’s money – but on security grounds, only a member of the Royal family could live there.
On Sunday, it emerged that Prince William’s family intended to move to Forest Lodge, an eight-bedroom property little more than 1.6km from Prince Andrew’s current home, before Bonfire Night.
After Prime Minister’s Questions last week, Badenoch’s spokesman said there was “a case for a review” of the report from 2005.
It is understood that the NAO has continued to review and test the Crown Estate’s property valuations and lease accounting on an annual basis. However, it is unclear to what extent the arrangements at Royal Lodge are reviewed specifically.
Andrew moved into the property, the former home of the Queen Mother, following her death in 2002.
He signed a 75-year lease in 2003 after paying an initial down payment of £1m and a promise – which he kept – to spend £7.5m on renovations. The Lodge, which includes extensive grounds and eight cottages, is worth at least £30m.
The Royal Lodge in the Great Park, at Windsor. Photo / Getty Images
‘One peppercorn’ in rent per year
A copy of the leasehold agreement shows that the prince has paid “one peppercorn” in rent per year, “if demanded”, for more than 20 years.
The revelation has raised concerns that the public could have been deprived of potential income from the prince’s property, given that profits from the Crown Estate are handed to the Treasury.
The Royal Lodge agreement also says that the Crown Estate would need to pay Prince Andrew about £558,000 to cut the lease short and move out this year.
Last week, No 10 refused to say whether any taxpayer funds could be used to cover the cost of the early exit.
The Lib Dems have now demanded “clarity” from the Government on the issue, insisting people “deserve to know” how their money is being spent.
The party intends to use its next Opposition Day debate in Parliament for MPs to consider officially removing Andrew’s Duke of York title.
Lisa Smart, the Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesman, told The Telegraph: “By disgracing his office, Prince Andrew has relinquished any rights to special treatment at the expense of the taxpayer. The Government needs to provide clarity. Taxpayers deserve to know.
“The first thing we need is proper transparency and accountability – that’s why the Liberal Democrats have already called for the Crown Estate and Prince Andrew to give evidence under oath in Parliament before a select committee.”
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