Andrew to end lease on another royal home

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has asked to end his tenancy on another Crown Estate property, even after paying well below prevailing local market rents for more than two decades.

The BBC reported that the former royal has requested the termination of his tenancy at East Lodge, a Grade II-listed thatched cottage close to his former home at Sunninghill Park in Berkshire. Lease papers show he was charged £12,922 a year, equating to roughly £1,075 per month. By contrast, estate agents are marketing homes in the same high‑value postcode for up to £7,500 per month.

The average monthly private rent across the UK stood at £1,368 in December 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics, meaning Mountbatten-Windsor was paying about £300 less each month for a high-end property than the typical tenant was paying on average for standard rented accommodation.

Andrew gives up lease on Crown Estate property https://t.co/FDxCsmgZUm #bbcberkshire

— BBC Berkshire (@BBCBerkshire) March 3, 2026

Long-running lease on Crown Estate cottage

Documents show Mountbatten-Windsor initially took on the tenancy in February 1998 at £3,500 per year, with rent uprated over time in line with inflation.

By the time the lease was renewed in 2020, the annual rent had risen to £8,047. A further review in late summer last year increased the charge to £12,922, the level at which he has recently been paying. This latest term had been due to run until July 2027.

East Lodge is believed to have been used primarily for staff accommodation. The single‑storey, 19th‑century thatched lodge sits close to the now‑sold Sunninghill Park mansion, which had been his main home until he moved to Royal Lodge in Windsor in 2004. Sunninghill Park itself was sold in 2007 for £15 million, £3 million above the asking price, to the son‑in‑law of Kazakhstan’s president.

Despite the disposal of the main Sunninghill Park house, East Lodge remained under a separate arrangement between the then Duke of York and the Crown Estate, forming part of a wider, long‑running set of property interests linked to Mountbatten-Windsor.

Lease termination request followed FOI

Mountbatten-Windsor’s request to bring the East Lodge tenancy to an end came after renewed scrutiny of his finances and Crown Estate holdings.

Within months of renewing the East Lodge lease, and following further public focus on his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he was stripped of his royal titles and agreed to give up the tenancy at Royal Lodge in Windsor. He has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

The Crown Estate has suggested that the decision to seek an early termination of the East Lodge lease followed a Freedom of Information request submitted by the BBC in January about the property. 

The precise timing of the lease’s end will depend on arrangements for those currently living in the property once Mountbatten-Windsor’s involvement ceases. The Crown Estate has said that day‑to‑day occupancy is treated as a private matter, separate from the tenancy, and previous documents have indicated that the cottage has been used by staff associated with the former duke.

Mountbatten-Windsor moved from Royal Lodge to Sandringham in Norfolk in February, where he is living in a property owned by King Charles III, with no direct cost to the public purse.

Political focus on Crown Estate leases

The financial terms of royal leases such as East Lodge are set to come under closer examination. MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have announced an inquiry into Crown Estate property arrangements, due to begin later this year. The review will assess how such leases are structured and whether they deliver value for money for taxpayers.

Chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown has said the inquiry will “aid transparency in public-interest information, as part of its overall mission to secure value for money for the taxpayer.“

The Crown Estate operates as an independent commercial body, with profits paid to the Treasury, and is under a statutory duty to secure the best overall return for the nation from its portfolio. The East Lodge case, in which a high‑value cottage near Windsor appears to have been let on terms well below local market benchmarks, is likely to feature in wider debate over how that duty is applied to long‑standing royal tenancies.