Prince William is attempting to “draw a line under the past” with his plan to cut off rent-free royals when he takes the throne, according to royal experts.
William, 43, is reportedly considering barring royal properties from being sub-let as well as stopping non-working royals from enjoying rent-free accommodation.
A source close to the Prince of Wales told The Sunday Times he wants to “do things differently” in the wake of a National Audit Office (NAO) report into royal property arrangements which has provoked fresh public outrage.
It has emerged that the King’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been able to earn rental income, estimated to be as much as £180,000 a year, from renting out cottages at the Royal Lodge estate despite only paying a ‘peppercorn’ rate for his own 30-room mansion.
His daughters, princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, have also been able to live rent-free in their respective homes within royal palaces for more than 15 years, with the cost met directly from the Privy Purse – the monarch’s private income derived from his Duchy of Lancaster estate.
