Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was forced out of his long-term residence, the Royal Lodge, last year by his brother King Charles III.
LONDON: Britain’s disgraced former prince Andrew received compensation of 302,000 pounds ($400,000) for giving up his lease on a mansion on the royal family’s Windsor estate, the body that manages royal property said Friday.
Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was forced out of his long-term residence, the Royal Lodge, last year by his brother King Charles III.
He has since moved to a house on the monarch’s Sandringham Estate in eastern England.
The Crown Estate, an independent, commercial business that oversees the royals’ property and hands proceeds to the government, said in a statement sent to AFP that Andrew’s lease “has been surrendered”.
It said he had “fully vacated” the property and paid 1.8 million pounds to cover outstanding repairs.
The lease allowed Andrew to claim compensation for ending it early and by moving out, he was entitled to around 302,000 pounds, which was deducted from the repair bill, the property company said.
“Therefore the overall net amount received by The Crown Estate is £1.5 million.”
The Royal Lodge was searched for six days by police in February as part of their investigation into Andrew’s alleged misconduct in office related to his links to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew has denied all wrongdoing in his ties to the disgraced financier.
On Thursday, he won a legal challenge after police agreed the search warrants they obtained were “unlawful”.
Andrew had paid a one-million-pound “premium” to lease the Royal Lodge in 2003, agreeing to spend 7.5 million on improvements to secure a 75-year lease on a peppercorn rent.
This summer the National Audit Office revealed that Andrew had been earning a private income for more than two decades by subletting three cottages on the Royal Lodge’s grounds.
The Crown Estate said Friday it was now considering the property’s “potential future use”, aiming to “generate additional financial value” from its early return.
