Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor earnt more than £2,000 a month by subletting cottages in Royal Lodge grounds, King's accountant reveals

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was making more than £2,000 a month by subletting cottages in the grounds of Royal Lodge, the King’s accountant has revealed.The disgraced former prince not only lived on the Windsor estate for free but profited by renting the three extra properties privately.It comes as the government’s spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), criticised the royals for allowing ten members of the family – including three described as ‘non-working’ – to live in properties on the Crown Estate for little or no rent.Questions about the three cottages at Royal Lodge arose in July. Now James Chalmers, treasurer to the King, has discovered Andrew was raking in thousands per month from them.Last night, campaigners called on the exiled royal to return the money he made to the Crown Estate.Former MP Norman Baker, an expert on royal finances, described Andrew’s arrangement as ‘scurrilous’ and an example of his ‘unashamed greed’.‘It was bad enough that he was living at Royal Lodge on a peppercorn rent,’ he said. ‘Now we find out he was actually making thousands in profit from the property. I think many people would like that sort of arrangement in their lives.‘It’s absolutely scurrilous and the Crown Estate should never have allowed it to occur. Andrew should pay back any money he received from that rent. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was making more than £2,000 a month by subletting cottages in the grounds of Royal Lodge, the King’s accountant has revealedThe disgraced former prince not only lived on the Windsor estate (pictured) for free but profited by renting the three extra properties privately‘It’s disgraceful, but that was Andrew all over – very keen to get whatever he could for nothing and maximise his personal income. It’s just another example of his unashamed greed.’Andrew was evicted from Royal Lodge in February following intense scrutiny of his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.In July, it emerged the former prince had received an undisclosed income from sub-letting three cottages on the estate. The PAC asked Buckingham Palace how much Andrew was making from the properties.In a newly published letter to Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, chairman of the spending watchdog, Mr Chalmers explained that Andrew’s income had been unknown to the Royal Household.However, he said he had made inquiries with Andrew and was ‘sharing [the information] in the interests of transparency and openness’.He revealed that for most of his tenancy, Andrew had not sublet all three cottages at the same time, but this changed in 2021.‘This generated a combined income, before maintenance and general expenses, of just over £2,000 per month,’ he wrote.Baroness Margaret Hodge, former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said it was ‘shocking’ the figures had not been declared earlier.‘I want a Royal Family, but in a modern era that does require proper transparency,’ she said. ‘The Crown Estate is taxpayers’ money, it’s not theirs, and whoever runs it has to ensure the taxpayers’ interest.’Meanwhile, a PAC inquiry into the Crown Estate sparked by the questions over Royal Lodge found that members of the Royal Family have been paying ‘inconsistent rents’ based on ‘outdated residential property valuations’.As of May, seven properties were being occupied by working members of the family at no charge, and three by non-working members ‘at an adjusted rate’ – typically 60 per cent of market value.The Crown Estate manages a portfolio of £14.5billion of land, property and seabed across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including 255 residential properties across the occupied royal palaces estate.The committee advised the Crown Estate to review its rental agreements to ensure proper value for taxpayers’ money.Sir Geoffrey said: ‘The Crown Estate returns its net profits to the Treasury to fund public services. Questions have arisen in our scrutiny as to how it makes its trade-offs between these profits and its duties to the environment and social value. I am hopeful that our recommendations will be pushing at an open door.’