King Charles has paid Prince Andrew’s £1.5m repair bill for Royal Lodge in Windsor.
The payment comes from the King’s private income and settles what Andrew owes his former landlords, the Crown Estate.
A total of £1.8m was due for dilapidations but this has been reduced by £300,000, which Andrew would have received for an early surrender of his lease.
The Crown Estate says it has not given any money to Andrew at the conclusion of his lease and has now received the net £1.5m payment it was owed.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor left his Royal Lodge home in February, in the middle of a storm of revelations about his connections to the US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
The former prince was moved to Sandringham, where the King is using his own money to provide his upkeep and accommodation.
Andrew was arrested later that month on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
A court ruling on Thursday found fault with the search warrants used by the police.
Despite moving to Sandringham, Andrew’s lease on Royal Lodge remained until October and as that officially ends, the Crown Estate is revealing the terms on which it concluded.
When Andrew took on the 75-year lease in 2003, he made considerable upfront payments, including about £7.5m for repairs.
This meant he did not have to pay monthly rent.
It also meant that if he gave up the lease within the first 25 years, he would be legally entitled to some compensation, with that amount reducing each year.
Leaving in October would have meant the Crown Estate would have had to pay him back about £302,000.
However that amount has been overshadowed by what he owes to the landlord for the state of the building.
The Crown Estate says it has now received a net amount of £1.5m.
It is understood that the payment of that money by the King is to avoid leaving the Crown Estate out of pocket.
Whether Andrew will repay his brother is said to be a private matter and there are no further details of what this might say about Andrew’s personal finances.
There was also no comment on how the King feels about this arrangement and there is said to be no connection between this payment and the King making clear this week that his financial support should not go to cover Andrew’s legal costs in his battle over search warrants.
It has so far not been decided how the 30-room mansion in Windsor will be used in future but it is expected to be used to deliver a commercial return and at present there are no plans for another royal occupant.
The lease for Royal Lodge has ended and the Crown Estate’s focus now is firmly on its future use and the opportunities to generate additional financial value for the nation from its early return, according to a Crown Estate spokesperson.
A report by the National Audit Office had revealed earlier this year that Andrew had been sub-letting buildings at Royal Lodge, although the amount was never revealed.
That report from the public spending watchdog also showed that Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, had accommodation inside royal palaces which they did not pay for, with the cost being covered privately by the King.
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