King Charles ‘wants to rent Windsor Royal Lodge for £1m a year’ but Prince Andrew will have to move out of the mansion first.
The King is reportedly keen to generate commercial income from the impressive home, as soon as he kicks out the disgraced Duke of York, who refuses to pack his bags and leave. Sun reported.
Andrew, who now lives in the 30-bedroom, £30million property with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, signed a 75-year lease with the Crown Estate when he moved in in 2003, making an initial payment of £1million.
The deal included a nominal rent of £260,000 a year.
Andrew, who remains a pariah from public life amid the fallout from his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, has reportedly already spent nearly £7m on extensive renovations and repairs to the property.
King Charles reportedly wants to rent out the 30-bedroom, £30m Windsor Royal Lodge for £1m a year as soon as he gets Prince Andrew to leave.
Photographs taken last month show paint crumbling and cracks forming on the walls of Prince Andrew’s home at Royal Lodge.
Prince Andrew has refused to leave the mansion to the frustration of the King. Pictured: Prince Andrew, Duke of York, riding in Windsor Castle.
She has refused all of her brother’s requests to move into tiny Frogmore Cottage.
But sources told the newspaper they believe Charles will be able to kick Andrew out of the £30million lodge in Windsor Great Park, suggesting he could even cut him off the £4million a year he pays him.
The run-down property is in urgent need of repairs and restoration, so insiders believe the lodge should be returned to Crown Estates.
An insider told the publication: “It could then be rented out to make money for themselves, the King’s coffers and the country, rather than being a burden on everyone’s resources.”
A property expert added that a £1m-a-year rental price wouldn’t be too far-fetched as the house is incredibly large and has royal connections.
Earlier this month, it was revealed in a document that Prince Andrew has to repaint his Windsor Royal Lodge with two coats of paint every five years.
The lease he signed in 2003 states that he has the responsibility to “repair, renovate, maintain, clean and maintain in repair and, where necessary, rebuild” the house.
This includes repainting its exterior walls every five years with “two coats of paint” beginning in 2008 and redecorating the interior every seven years beginning in 2010.
This means that the exterior decoration should have been completed last year, while the interior work will be carried out this year.
The document, which was seen by The Times, dictated that he must “paint with at least two coats of paint and properly wallpaper, polish, decorate and treat” the interior walls of the building.
Andrew signed the lease, paying £250 a week and agreeing to keep the vast property.
Insiders have told The Sun they believe King Charles may expel his disgraced brother from the Royal Lodge.
But claims emerged last year that Andrew could not cover the £400,000-a-year upkeep of Royal Lodge and the duke was reportedly told he would have to leave the property.
Located on 98 acres in Windsor Great Park, the property was once known as King’s Lodge, but its name was changed by the Duke of Cumberland when he became King George IV in 1820.
William IV demolished part of the Royal Lodge and for sixty years it was used primarily as a “grace and favour” home by senior members of the Royal Household.
In 1931, King George V gave permission to his son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, and his wife to take over the property and they moved in the following year.
They used the 30-room Royal Lodge as a private country home, even after becoming Duke and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1936.
Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret spent many happy days playing in the garden and making use of Y Bwthyn Bach, the miniature thatched cottage given to the future Queen by the people of Wales to mark her sixth birthday in 1932.
The grounds of the Royal Lodge include a gardener’s cottage and the Royal Chapel of All Saints, where Princess Beatrice and Edo Mapelli Mozzi married in 2020 in a ceremony attended by the late Queen and Prince Philip.
There is also a swimming pool and a tennis court.