A minor royal has been paying just £2,200 a year to rent a luxurious property in southwest London from the Crown Estate, raising questions about taxpayer value for money.
Princess Alexandra, 88, the late queen’s cousin, holds the lease of Thatched House Lodge, a grade II listed property in Richmond Park.
The details of her lease were disclosed in response to questions from the public accounts committee (PAC) on the property deals the Crown Estate has made with members of the royal family.
Elizabeth hosts Alexandra at Buckingham Palace in 2016
YUI MOK/GETTY IMAGES
It followed revelations in The Times about the generous lease deals secured by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Prince Edward, who both enjoyed large country properties at a peppercorn rent.
MPs have launched an inquiry into the extent to which the operations of the Crown Estate offer value for money.
The institution manages properties owned in the name of the Crown across the country. The profits from these properties are surrendered to the exchequer in exchange for an annual subsidy to fund the public work of the royal family.
A failure to maximise its profits from their properties is therefore money that is unavailable to fund public services.
The princess and her son, James Ogilvy, at Thatched House Lodge in 1968
FREDDIE REED/MIRRORPIX/GETTY IMAGES
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Alexandra, who is 58th in line to the throne, is the daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent, who died in a non-combat air crash during the Second World War.
Though less active in her older age, Alexandra has been a working royal supporting various charities and causes, including the Alzheimer’s Society, as a royal patron since 1990.
Unlike Andrew, whose association with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has brought him into disgrace, Alexandra is not a controversial royal, but questions have been raised about why she is paying so little for the property, given her relatively low public profile.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will move out of Royal Lodge, below, in Windsor
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Alexandra and her family have lived in the house since 1963. According to the letter to the PAC, Thatched House Lodge is owned under a two-part lease, one signed in 1971 and one in 1995.
For the first part, Alexandra paid £3,000 in 1971 for a 70-year lease, with £410 a year rent from the first 35 years of the lease until 2006, and £700 thereafter.
For the second part, she paid a £670,000 premium in 1995 for a 150-year lease, then £1,010 a year rent for the first 25 years. It rose to £1,500 a year for the following 25 years, and will eventually go up to £6,000 by the last 25-year period.
It suggests an annual rent of £2,200, just £183 in monthly terms, a rent for which one would struggle to find a room as a lodger in a shared house.
While significant funds were paid up front under the deals, questions have been raised about whether the premium and rent reflect the maximum that could have been obtained for the lease.
Unlike Andrew’s deal, the leases also have no assignment clauses, which means she is free to sell them on, subject to Crown Estate approval.
According to the letter, “the Crown Estate appointed agents (Cluttons) to provide an arm’s-length valuation report based on the valuation methods prescribed by the Leasehold Reform legislation of 1993. The same agents negotiated the lease terms with the Tenants’ own professional advisors.”
Buckingham Palace and the Crown Estate were approached for comment.