King Charles Covered Andrew's £1.5 Million Royal Lodge Repair Bill
King Charles III used his private money to settle about £1.5 million ($2 million) owed after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor gave up his lease at Royal Lodge.
New figures show the Crown Estate, the public property portfolio that manages lands held for the monarchy, recorded £1.8 million ($2.4 million) in dilapidation costs tied to the house. Dilapidation is the industry term for repairs for wear and damage owed at the end of a lease. That total was offset by £302,000 ($400,000) in compensation due because the lease was surrendered about 50 years early, leaving about £1.5 million still owed, according to Town & Country.
The King made funds available from his own resources to reimburse that sum to the Crown Estate. The BBC reported the payment as the King covering his brother's repair bill. The Telegraph also reported the £1.5 million payment on Oct. 9.
Royal Lodge is a 30-room mansion in Windsor, west of London. Andrew, formerly known as Prince Andrew, took on its long lease in 2003 after the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
The deal required a large upfront payment and then peppercorn rent, meaning only a token amount each year. He spent around £7.5 million ($10 million) on renovations over more than two decades in the house.
He left in February. The move followed renewed scrutiny of his links to Jeffrey Epstein, the late American financier and convicted sex offender.
Andrew now lives in a smaller property on the Sandringham Estate, the King's privately owned country estate in Norfolk. The lease surrender ends a long dispute over the house and who would pay to maintain it.
