King Charles ‘wants to rent out Windsor Royal Lodge for £1million a year’ but Prince Andrew will have to move out of the mansion first.
The King is reportedly eager to generate commercial revenue from the stunning home – just as soon as he boots out the disgraced Duke of York who is refusing to pack up and leave, The Sun reported.
Andrew – who now lives in the 30-room, £30milliion property with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson – signed a 75-year lease with the Crown Estate when he moved in, in 2003, making a £1million initial payment.
The agreement included a notional rent of £260,000 a year.
Andrew – who remains an outcast from public life amid the fallout from his relationship with peadophile Jeffrey Epstein – has reportedly already spent nearly £7million carrying out extensive renovations and repairs to the property.
King Charles reportedly wants to rent out the 30-room, £30million Windsor Royal Lodge for £1million a year as soon as he manages to get prince Andrew to leave
Photos taken last month show the paintwork crumbling and cracks forming in the walls at Prince Andrew’s Royal Lodge home
Prince Andrew has been refusing to leave the mansion to the King’s frustration. Pictured: Prince Andrew Duke Of York rides out at Windsor Castle
He has refused all requests by his brother to move into the smaller Frogmore Cottage.
But sources told the newspaper they believe Charles will be able to oust Andrew from the £30million lodge in Windsor Great Park, suggesting he could even cut off the £4million a year he pays him.
The run-down property is in dire need of repairs and restoration, which is why insiders believe the lodge should be handed back to Crown Estates.
One insider told the publication: ‘It could then be rented to earn money for them, the King’s coffers and the country rather than being a drain on everyone’s resources’.
A property expert added that a rental price of £1million a year would not be too much of a stretch 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 he has a responsibility to ‘repair, renew, uphold, clean and keep in repair and where necessary rebuild’ the home.
This includes repainting its external walls every five years with ‘two coats of paint’ from 2008 and redecorating inside every seven years from 2010.
This means that the exterior decorating was due to have been completed last year, while the interior work is set to be done this year.
The document – which was seen by The Times – dictated that he must ‘paint with at least two coats of paint and to paper, polish, decorate and otherwise appropriately treat’ the building’s interior walls.
Andrew signed the lease, paying £250 a week and agreeing to maintain the vast property.
Insiders revealed to The Sun that they believe King Charles will be able to oust his disgraced brother from the Royal Lodge
But claims emerged last year that Andrew could not meet the £400,000-a-year upkeep of Royal Lodge and it was reported that the duke was told he would have to leave the property.
Situated in 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 Royal Lodge and, for sixty years, senior members of the Royal Household used it mainly as a ‘grace-and-favour’ home.
In 1931, King George V gave permission for his son, Prince Albert, the 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 house, even after they became Duke and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1936.
Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret spent many happy days playing in the grounds and making use of Y Bwthyn Bach – the miniature thatched cottage that was given to the future Queen by the people of Wales to mark her sixth birthday in 1932.
The grounds of 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 tennis court.