Continued Fallout from the Royal Lodge Lease to the Andrew Formerly Known as Prince

Two months back, we brought you the story of the Royal Lodge, a thirty-room structure with seven bedrooms, leased out to then Prince Andrew. People were upset because the stated rent was a peppercorn, but in actuality Andrew was responsible for upkeep of the property, which may have been quite costly.

Caroline Davies, who must have done some terrible things in a past life and is still toiling away on the Andrew beat, brings us an update to the story in The Guardian. In short, questions still loom over the propriety of the lease, and the Public Account Committee will launch an inquiry. It appears the Andrew, now Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, will not be compensated for quitting his 75-year lease on the property early, notwithstanding having paid a £1m premium plus £7.5m upfront for refurbishment of the property. He also agreed to pay a peppercorn for rent (if demanded), but there is no information regarding whether he did so.

If he did, I would love to see a re-enactment, in which some lackey in uniform arrives in a royal means of conveyance and climbs some red-carpeted steps, opens a velvet pouch, and with gloved hand grasping the royal tweezers, plucks out a peppercorn and hands it over to a royal official, who, bespectacled, bewigged, and wielding a quill pen, duly records the payment in a leather-bound ledger recording accounts going back to the first dwelling on the site, constructed in 1662. The clerk then hands the lackey a receipt, made out with the same quill pen, with all the requisite calligraphic flourishes, at which point the lackey departs, and the clerk restores the ledger to its appointed spot on a shelf in a large, glass-encased oak cabinet beside innumerable other ledgers attesting to the Royal Family’s holdings and acount-keeping scruples.

The Prince (below) and Princess of Wales moved into the Royal Lodge in October, having negotiated a twenty-year lease at market rates in an arms-length transaction, according to the Crown Estate.

But don’t worry about Andrew. He has found a new abode on the king’s estate at Sandringham.