Beatrice and Eugenie are living rent-free on King’s money
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are both married to wealthy men yet have their rent paid for them - Dave Benett
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have lived rent-free at royal properties for almost two decades.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s daughters, who have been dragged into the Jeffrey Epstein scandal in recent months, have had their rent payments covered by the King, despite not being working royals.
The revelation was made in a report published by the National Audit Office (NAO), which has spent several months examining the Royal family’s property arrangements.
It also revealed that the former Duke of York was allowed to sublet three of the eight properties on the Royal Lodge estate in Windsor, where he lived until February.
Revelations about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his daughters’ rents prompted the accusation that royals were ‘taking the public for a complete ride’ - Getty
The report’s findings will form the basis of a public accounts committee (PAC) inquiry into Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s Royal Lodge lease, alongside the Crown Estate’s latest accounts, and correspondence from the Crown Estate and the Treasury.
Norman Baker, the former Liberal Democrat minister, said the subletting arrangements were “outrageous”.
He added of Beatrice and Eugenie: “There’s no way that non-working members of the Royal family should be subsidised by the Duchy of Lancaster. The Royal family is yet again taking the public for a complete ride.”
The report brings the living arrangements of various members of the Royal family into focus. Here are the findings:
Beatrice and Eugenie
Princess Beatrice, 37, was offered a four-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment at St James’s Palace in London when she was 19 and about to start university.
She and her sister lived there rent-free until 2012, when it was decided they should pay for their living quarters. At the time, it was said their father would pay the annual bill of around £20,000 – well below the market rate.
Princess Beatrice, who is married to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, splits her time between the apartment and her Cotswolds mansion.
In 2018, Princess Eugenie, 36, moved into Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace with Jack Brooksbank, her husband. The couple and their two sons divide their time between the cottage and a villa in Portugal.
It is not known why the princesses, who are both employed and married to wealthy men, do not pay their own rent.
Princess Beatrice, with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, splits her time between London and the Cotswolds - Getty
The arrangement was put in place when Elizabeth II, their grandmother, was still alive. However, sources noted that all financial matters were kept under review.
Royal Household policy is to charge an adjusted rent of 60 per cent of the open-market value for non-working members of the Royal family.
However, the NAO found that the sisters’ rents had been based on out-of-date valuations for several years. Until this year, Eugenie’s rent was based on a 2018 valuation and Beatrice’s on a 2020 valuation.
Eugenie’s was 50 per cent of the 2018 open-market value from 2020 to 2021, and ranged from 55 per cent in 2022 to 63 per cent in 2025. Beatrice’s rent was 60 per cent of the 2020 market value from 2020 to 2021 and ranged from 62 per cent to 68 per cent from 2022 to 2025, the NAO said.
The sisters’ current rental rates are 64 and 68 per cent of the respective valuations.
The Prince and Princess of Wales
Elsewhere, the NAO revealed that the Crown Estate had spent £400,000 renovating Forest Lodge, including the main house, three cottages and the grounds, before the Prince and Princess of Wales moved in in 2025.
The couple have avoided any controversy surrounding peppercorn rents by paying £307,200 a year for their home.
The report said they signed a “short-term 20-year lease” with quarterly rent payments and no upfront deposit, because they funded internal refurbishment costs themselves. As the Waleses signed a short-term lease, external repair and refurbishment costs fall to the Crown Estate.
The tenancy covers the grade II listed Georgian house, gardens, paddock with 7.4 hectares, a barn and three cottages, one of which is occupied by a member of the couple’s staff for an annual rent of £19,800.
The Prince and Princess of Wales pay more then £300,000 a year to live at Forest Lodge in Windsor - Getty
The couple are subject to a rent review every five years in line with the Consumer Price Index, with increases of no less than three per cent and no more than five per cent.
They are entitled to pass the lease on to all or any of their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The Waleses have described the red brick Georgian mansion as their “forever home”. It has eight bedrooms and six bathrooms, a long gallery, a tennis court and a large pond.
Prince and Princess Michael of Kent
A third palace property leased to non-working royals is occupied by Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, aged 83 and 81, whose rent is covered by the King.
In 2002, it emerged that Elizabeth II’s cousin and his wife, Marie-Christine, paid a peppercorn rent of £69 a week to live in the grand Apartment 10, at Kensington Palace. The revelation saw them nicknamed “Rent-a-Kents” in the tabloids.
The PAC demanded they pay full rent, but the couple argued that the late Queen had given them the use of the palace as a wedding present.
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Elizabeth II came to the rescue, offering to pay a commercial-rate rent of £120,000 a year on their behalf, until 2010.
It has emerged that they were never required to pay their own rent: the late Queen agreed to continue her private funding, as has the King since her death in 2022.
There was no record of a valuation of the couple’s lease before this year. The NAO said the rent had increased 34 per cent between 2020 and 2026, and was now 63 per cent of the 2026 open-market valuation.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh lease Bagshot Park near Windsor through Eclipse Nominees Ltd, the Duke’s company, which is listed as dormant by Companies House.
The couple signed a long lease of 150 years in 2007 with a payment of £5m. They held a previous lease from 1998 to 2007, with a committed restoration spend of £1.38m.
Their current lease allows the Duke and Duchess to sublet the estate with the entire agreement of the Crown Estate for up to 21 years, or sublet parts of the estate separately.
They generated a private income by renting out the stable complex to a third party until 2020.
Princess Alexandra, the late Queen’s cousin, lives in Thatched House Lodge in Richmond Park, west London, which is leased to the THL Trust. She pays an annual ground rent of £1,500, having put down a premium payment of £670,000 in 1995, following a previous lease in 1971.
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Her daughter, Marina Ogilvy, has an assured shorthold tenancy on a cottage on the Windsor Estate, and pays an annual rent of £17,436.
A spokesman for the Crown Estate said: “The Crown Estate welcomes the NAO review, which confirms its leases with members of the Royal family were agreed in line with independent, professional advice and open-market valuations. We look forward to discussing the report further with the Public Accounts Committee in due course.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “We are grateful to the National Audit Office for this report, which is in line with the Royal Household’s commitment to transparency. We hope that the findings will help correct, clarify or contextualise a number of points regarding Royal properties.
“As the report notes, arrangements for properties managed by the Royal Household vary based on a number of factors to ensure residences are filled appropriately, depending on their location, tenants and purpose.”
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