Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor made money from his Windsor estate despite paying a peppercorn rent for two decades.
The former Duke of York sublet three of the eight cottages on the grounds of Royal Lodge to generate personal income, an arrangement permitted under the terms of his lease.
The National Audit Office (NAO) revealed in a 50-page report that the disgraced royal leased the cottages “directly” to tenants for an undisclosed sum.
The revelation raises the possibility that Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, made a notable profit from the property while still a working member of the Royal family, having leased it rent-free from the Crown Estate after making a £7.5 million (NZ$17.2m) payment for refurbishment in 2003.
The report was commissioned late last year following an outcry over Mountbatten-Windsor’s lease arrangements.
