Prince Andrew has come under increasing fire over his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, and has now relinquished his royal titles.
Andrew will no longer be referred to as the Duke of York after giving back his titles on Monday following conversations with King Charles.
Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, have come under added pressure to leave their Windsor home, the Royal Lodge, after the Epstein scandal.
However, it has now been claimed that it would be near-impossible to remove Andrew from the 30-room mansion as the details of his lease were revealed.
According to The Times, Andrew paid £1million ($2millionAUD AUD) for the lease in 2003, which doesn’t run out until 2078, long past his lifetime.
It has also been claimed that he committed to fund £7.5million ($15.5millionAUD AUD) in refurbishments on the property, with the notional rent only due if he failed to do the works.
This has meant that Andrew has allegedly only had to pay “one peppercorn” of rent if demanded each year for more than two decades, or in simpler terms, he is essentially living there for free.
If he gave up the lease, the Crown Estate would have to pay Andrew a “compensatory” sum of around £185,865 ($371,730AUD) per year until 2028, the 25th year of his lease. After that, no payment would be due.
According to the Daily Mail, it would be a “waste of time” to try and evict Andrew from the 96-acre property amid growing calls for him to move out of the residence.
“Any attempt to get Andrew out would be a waste of time as he bought the house on a 75-year lease agreement and therefore is legally entitled to live in the property until 2078,” property lawyer Mike Hansom, a partner at BLB Solicitors, told the publication.
“He would either have to agree to leave by mutual consent or can only be forced to leave if he has failed to adhere to the tenants’ covenants in the lease, which is unlikely.”
Renewed calls for Andrew to vacate the property have come after he was accused of a campaign to smear Jeffrey Epstein accuser, Virginia Giuffre, who died in April 2025, and has released a posthumous memoir.
Meanwhile, Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah, also came under added criticism and was axed by seven charities over emails she allegedly sent to Epstein apologising for publicly cutting ties with him.
Amid the uproar, Andrew decided to give back his royal titles, while continuing to deny the allegations made against him.
“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” he said.
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.
“As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
In August 2021, Virginia sued Andrew, claiming that he had assaulted her when she was a teenager. Andrew has always vehemently denied any wrongdoing and settled the matter out of court in 2022.
The settlement included a statement in which Andrew expressed regret for his association with Epstein, but accepted no liability.
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