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When Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, there was a huge inheritance just waiting for the next generation. Still, it’s not as simple as doling out an even amount when you are a member of the royal family.
King Charles III, who was heir to the throne, earned the lion’s share, which included the Queen’s private estate, the Duchy of Lancaster. In March 2023, it was estimated to be worth over $856 million, according to The Independent. Passing on the funds from monarch to monarch means that there is no inheritance tax to be paid, per a 1993 deal negotiated with the U.K. government.

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King Charles Reportedly Paying a Hefty Sum After Being Left With ‘No Choice’ but To Strip Andrew’s Titles
Princess Anne, Prince Edward, and Andrew Mountbatten Windsor reportedly shared “some resentment” that they inherited nothing from their mother. But Anne and Edward were senior members of the royal family and still received payments from the Sovereign Grant. And what about Andrew? Well, he had run out of luck, and he was in “despair” over the situation because he was sidelined by his mother after his disastrous 2019 interview with BBC’s Newsnight.

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.
Still, Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein haunted him for the second half of his royal life, and it cost him everything. By October 2025, he was stripped of his titles and his beloved Royal Lodge, banished to Sandringham Estate in a private home. Don’t misinterpret the situation, though — Andrew is going to be just fine after negotiating “millions” from his brother, per The Daily Beast.
“Andrew made it clear that he needed to be financially recompensed for surrendering the remaining 50 years of his lease on one of England’s finest homes,” a royal insider told The Royalist Substack. “The lease was his daughter’s inheritance and an asset, and in this country, you can’t seize people’s assets. Charles was always going to have to pay him off, and he has done what he should have done in the first place.”
More on Prince Andrew’s downfall:
The Guardian shared that Andrew’s only notable source of income right now is his pension from his days in the navy, worth around $26,000 per year. Moving forward, he is allowed to earn income privately, but it’s unclear what type of job he would pursue or who would want to hire him, given the Epstein scandal.
Newsnight producer Sam McAlister, who was a part of the 2019 interview that led to his public downfall, saw the mess coming a mile away from the spoiled royal.
“You also have to remember the life he had lived. The third child and second son, but always said to be the Queen’s favorite,” she wrote in her 2022 memoir, Scoops. “Granted extraordinary access and opportunity. Fawned over wherever he went… Andrew had not been subjected to the normal checks and balances. He and his people must have thought this moment, this hour of his life, would change the public perception of him for the better. It seems inconceivable now.”
It’s a classic tale of greed, power, money, and the eventual fallout — and Andrew is living it in real time.
Before you go, click here to see more photos from Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
