Andrew will not get any money back after the Royal Lodge is moved

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is unlikely to receive any compensation when he leaves the Royal Lodge of Windsor, according to information published by the Public Accounts Committee.

As part of his lease arrangement, Andrew may be entitled to £488,000 for the early surrender of his 75-year lease.

But the Crown Estate’s report to MPs at the public spending watchdog says the property is so dilapidated and in need of repair that it is “likely” Andrews “should not pay any compensation”.

There will now be an MPs’ inquiry into the Crown Estate and its royal leases, committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said.

Sir Geoffrey said the information received from the Crown Estate “clearly forms the basis for an inquiry” which will begin next year and will consider the Crown Estate and property leases with the Royal Family.

It is not yet known whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will be called to give evidence.

Information provided by the Crown Estate also showed Andrew served notice of his estate on 30 October, the same day he announced he had lost his name.

He gave a year’s notice, so could stay for another 10 months, but it is expected he will move from Royal Lodge to Sandringham in Norfolk early next year.

MPs on the cross-party committee wanted to know the details of Andrew’s financial arrangements for the Royal Lodge and whether the interests of taxpayers were properly protected.

Andrew took out a 75-year lease of the Royal Lodge in 2003, paying more than £8.5 million to cover renovation costs and advance payments to remove any need for rent, based on a notional rent of £260,000 per year.

There was also a token “peppercorn” payment, which the Crown Estate notes is standard practice for long leases, where there is an upfront payment instead of rent.

A clause allowed him to repay his advance payments if he left within 25 years, but that was contingent on the property being maintained.

The report said the Royal Lodge’s current condition was “untenable for this period”, but the cost of repairs to the “dilapidation” meant no payment was likely.

Overall, the terms of the Royal Lodge agreement were “fair, reasonable and consistent with market practice”, the Crown Estates Commissioners said in a letter to MPs.

The spending watchdog also published information about Forest Lodge, the Prince and Princess of Wales’ new home in Windsor, on a 20-year lease from the Crown Estate.

The couple, who moved in this autumn, are described as paying “open market rent” using levels agreed by independent valuers.

For more than a year, known as the Siege of Royal Lodge, Andrew, 65, was forced to leave his Windsor home.

King Charles had withheld financial support for his brother, but Andrew had a private lease which he had previously shown no sign of relinquishing.

But after a growing public outcry about her relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew was changed from his status as Duke of York and Prince Andrew to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

As part of that announcement in October, Andrew was to leave Royal Lodge and move to some other accommodation at Sandringham, the King’s private estate in Norfolk.

Andrew has faced calls from Democratic members of the US Congress to testify before a committee investigating Epstein’s activities.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor did not respond to requests by their deadline last month.

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