King pays £1.5m repair bill for Andrew's former home

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 9 Oct, 14:24 · Archive

King Charles has paid £1.5m for repairs owed on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's former Royal Lodge home.

King Charles has paid £1.5m in repair and restoration costs for Royal Lodge, the former home of his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The money comes from the King's private income and is owed to the Crown Estate, the property's landlords. An initial penalty of £1.8m was assessed for the poor condition of the 30-room mansion, but was reduced by £300,000 for Mountbatten-Windsor's early surrender of the lease.

Mountbatten-Windsor left Royal Lodge in February following revelations about his connections to the United States sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing. His lease on the property was not due to end until October. When he took on the 75-year lease in 2003, he made considerable upfront payments including about £7.5m for repairs, meaning he paid no monthly rent.

Mountbatten-Windsor subsequently moved to Sandringham. He was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, though a court ruling on Thursday found fault with the search warrants used by police. The Crown Estate confirmed they have received the £1.5m payment owed and that Mountbatten-Windsor received no money from them on conclusion of his lease.

How it is being reported

• Ex-Prince Andrew pays $400,000 toward $2.4M cost of fixing Royal LodgeAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor returned a Crown payout for giving up a lease on a royal mansion near Windsor Castle to go toward the cost of fixing it up.UPI · 9 Oct, 14:49
• King pays Andrew's £1.5m repair bill on Royal LodgeAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor was charged £1.5m in repair and restoration costs after surrendering the lease on the 30-room mansion.BBC News · 9 Oct, 13:29
• King paid Andrew's £1.5m Royal Lodge repair billThe King has paid £1.5m for repair and restoration costs to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's former Royal Lodge home.Sky News · 9 Oct, 11:10

In this story: King Charles · Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor · Crown Estate · Royal Lodge · Windsor · Jeffrey Epstein · Sandringham

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