{"id":101015,"date":"2025-10-24T07:55:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/101015\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T07:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:55:08","slug":"focus-intensifies-on-britains-prince-andrew-amid-controversy-over-peppercorn-rent-at-his-royal-lodge-residence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/101015\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus intensifies on Britain\u2019s Prince Andrew amid controversy over \u2018peppercorn rent\u2019 at his Royal Lodge residence"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former duke has had a peppercorn rent deal on his Windsor mansion for more than 20 years\n<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s brother is facing increasing calls to vacate the 30-room mansion amid the continuing furore over his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and the publication of the posthumous memoirs by his sexual assault accuser Virginia Giuffre.<\/p>\n

Claims emerged that the prince\u2019s \u201cpeppercorn\u201d rent on the Crown Estate property in Windsor Great Park was concealed in a redacted version of his lease submitted to the Land Registry more than 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

The Times reported the 2003 redacted version, compared with the full lease released this week, read \u201c\u2019Rent\u2019 means\u201d rather than \u201c\u2019Rent\u2019 means one peppercorn (if demanded)\u201d, and also \u201cTo pay the Rent\u201d rather than \u201cTo pay the Rent if demanded\u201d.<\/p>\n

The newspaper said the decision not to reveal such details was legal.<\/p>\n

But the move raises questions as to why how much Andrew was paying was seemingly hidden from the public.<\/p>\n

The Public Accounts Committee has already confirmed it is writing to the Crown Estate and the Treasury asking for further information about the prince\u2019s lease.<\/p>\n

Broadcast crews and photographers meanwhile gathered outside the gates of Royal Lodge on Thursday evening amid speculation there could be further developments in the long-running controversy surrounding the late Queen\u2019s second son.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Prince Andrew has stopped using his Duke of York title but remains a prince paying a peppercorn rent to live in his 30-room Royal Lodge mansion (Chris Jackson\/PA)<\/p>\n

Friends of the prince reportedly told The Telegraph that Andrew believes the King is trying to force him out of the mansion because he wants it as a base for the Queen in Windsor should she outlive him.<\/p>\n

Buckingham Palace strongly denied this was the King\u2019s plan. The prince\u2019s representatives were approached for comment.<\/p>\n

\"Copies<\/p>\n

Copies of Nobody\u2019s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre (James Manning\/PA)<\/p>\n

Andrew relinquished use of his Duke of York title and remaining honours last Friday in a bid to to prevent distracting from the work of the monarch and the royal family, but he remains a prince, living in the grand Royal Lodge, and the scandal continues to dominate the headlines.<\/p>\n

The King carried out a historic visit to the Vatican on Thursday where he became the first monarch since the Reformation to pray alongside the Pope in a public service.<\/p>\n

Royal aides will have been hoping the focus would remain on the monarch\u2019s symbolic moment of religious unity instead of Andrew.<\/p>\n

The King has long been said to have tried to encourage his younger brother, who lives in the home with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, to move out, but Andrew signed a watertight 75-year lease on the property in 2003.<\/p>\n

His leasehold agreement, seen by the PA news agency, revealed he paid \u00a31 million for the lease and that since then he paid \u201cone peppercorn\u201d of rent \u201cif demanded\u201d per year.<\/p>\n

He was also required to pay a further \u00a37.5 million for refurbishments completed in 2005, according to a report by the National Audit Office.<\/p>\n

The agreement also contains a clause that states the Crown Estate would have to pay Andrew around \u00a3558,000 if he gave up the lease.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An \u2018Investigate The Royals\u2019 banner is unveiled outside Prince Andrew\u2019s residence \u2013 Royal Lodge by the Republic pressure group (Rikki Blue\/Republic\/PA)<\/p>\n

Ms Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, alleged she was forced to have sex three times with Andrew, which he vehemently denies, including when she was 17 and also during an orgy, after she was trafficked by Epstein.<\/p>\n

Andrew paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with her in 2022, despite insisting he had never met her.<\/p>\n

Andrew\u2019s announcement last week came after he consulted with the King and the Prince of Wales when it emerged he had emailed Epstein in 2011 saying \u201cwe\u2019re in this together\u201d, three months after he claimed he had broken all contact with the convicted sex offender.<\/p>\n

Downing Street said MPs will not be given time in the House of Commons to discuss Andrew\u2019s conduct because the royal family wants Parliament to focus on \u201cimportant issues\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Commons could only discuss the prince\u2019s friendship with Epstein and his rent-free mansion if there was a formal motion, but the Government controls the bulk of parliamentary time.<\/p>\n

Downing Street said it would not allocate time for a debate in the chamber although MPs could still scrutinise the situation in committees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former duke has had a peppercorn rent deal on his Windsor mansion for more than 20 years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,898],"class_list":{"0":"post-101015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-latest-news-ticker"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}