Prince Andrew set to lose £500,000 compensation over extensive Royal lodge repair costs
Sarah Ferguson is reported to be planning her next move as the deadline approaches for her and former husband Andrew to leave their Royal Lodge home.
Disgraced former prince Andrew was made to give up the lease on the 30-room mansion he shared with ex-wife Fergie after he lost his titles at the end of October due to his connection with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew is expected to move to the Sandringham estate at the beginning of the New Year into a much smaller residence, but Fergie will not accompany him. There’s been much speculation about where the former Duchess of York will live, with rumors of her being offered a ’granny annexe’ in a former cattle shed on a property in the Cotswolds owned by her eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, being dismissed.
Similarly, it has been denied that she will relocate abroad to Portugal to a property owned by her youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie. It has now been reported that she is actually looking for her own house and wants to stay in the Windsor area.
A source close to Fergie told The Times: "She wants to stay in the UK, ideally in the Windsor area, and she wants to have her own base so that she can live independently and continue to pursue many things as Sarah Ferguson.”
News of Fergie’s potential new move follows revelations that Andrew faces eviction from the Royal Lodge without compensation due to the extent of repairs needed.
The disgraced former prince seems set to lose £500,000 after relinquishing the lease on the property. This comes as an investigation has been announced into the Crown Estate and the leases it has granted for homes held by other members of the Royal Family after MPs demanded answers regarding Andrew’s favorable rent deal for the Windsor mansion. It was revealed that Andrew only paid a nominal rent if requested for the home in the last two decades.
This prompted the Public Accounts Committee, known as the ‘queen of select committees,’ to demand explanations from both the Treasury and Crown Estate, requesting clarification on Andrew’s favorable lease.
Profits from the Crown Estate are provided to the Treasury for public spending, raising questions about whether taxpayers were losing out because of the deal.
On Tuesday, the committee, which evaluates whether taxpayers’ money is being used wisely, released details of the property arrangements provided by Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbad.
It shows that Andrew gave the required minimum 12 months’ notice to surrender Royal Lodge on October 30 - meaning he could stay there until October next year.
It also reveals that if no end-of-tenancy repairs were necessary, Andrew would have been entitled to £488,342.21 for ending his tenancy on October 30, 2026. However, the Crown Estate indicated that following an inspection of the property on November 12, compensation is unlikely to be paid.
It stated: "Our initial assessment is that while the extent of end-of-tenancy dilapidations and repairs required is not unusual for a tenancy of this duration, they will likely mean that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will not be entitled to any compensation for the early surrender of the lease… once dilapidations are considered,” the Crown Estate said.
But “before this position can be fully validated, however, a complete and thorough assessment must be conducted post-occupation by a dilapidation expert.”
World Affairs Correspondent
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
