Prince Andrew’s finances are set to be investigated as pressure continues to pile on the disgraced royal.
The National Audit Office (NAO) is expected to support MPs in scrutinising the arrangements that allowed the Prince to live effectively rent-free in Royal Lodge for 22 years.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has previously called for a review of the NAO’s 2005 report on the deal, which found that the Lodge could have made hundreds of thousands of pounds if it had been let out.
The prince is set to leave Royal Lodge as he eyes up a move to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s former UK base, Frogmore Cottage.
Andrew has only paid a “peppercorn” of rent at the property for more than 20 years.
He holds a lease on the property until 2078, having made an initial payment of £1million for the residency and dishing out £7.5million towards renovations completed in 2005.
The Royal Lodge agreement states that the Crown Estate would owe Andrew £558,000 should they cut the lease short.
He would receive annual payments of £185,865 until 2028, with No10 refusing to rule out whether the taxpayer would fund the early exit cost.
The Royal Lodge would have to pay Andrew £558,000 if they broke the lease
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PASir Keir Starmer backed demands for fresh scrutiny of the deal last week.
MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which interrogates Government spending, will question both the Treasury and the Crown Estate, which manages the Royal portfolio and pays its profits to the public purse.
It has not committed to a full Parliamentary inquiry.
PAC will be assisted by the NAO with the interrogations, according to The Telegraph.
The NAO said: “The Comptroller and Auditor General is in discussion with the Public Accounts Committee on this matter and will provide support as required.”
Sources note that the PAC’s work was still in the fact-finding stage, and it was unclear what support the NAO would provide.
In its report from 2005, the NAO reviewed the lease arrangements at Royal Lodge, concluding that it could have achieved a minimum rent of £260,000 a year, around half a million pounds today.
However, on security grounds, only a member of the Royal Family could reside there.
Andrew has effectively not paid rent for 22 years at Royal Lodge
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GETTYIt is understood that the NAO has continued to review and test the Crown Estate’s property valuations and lease accounting every year.
It is unclear at this stage to what extent the arrangement at Royal Lodge is reviewed specifically.
The Liberal Democrats have now demanded “clarity” from the Government on the situation, saying people “deserve to know” how their money is being spent.
Lisa Smart, the Lib Dem cabinet office spokesman, told The Telegraph: “By disgracing his office, Prince Andrew has relinquished any rights to special treatment at the expense of the taxpayer. The Government needs to provide clarity. Taxpayers deserve to know.
“The first thing we need is proper transparency and accountability – that’s why the Liberal Democrats have already called for the Crown Estate and Prince Andrew to give evidence under oath in Parliament before a select committee.”
