Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Receives £302,000 for Lease

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received £302,000 in compensation after surrendering the lease on Royal Lodge more than 50 years early, the Crown Estate said Friday. The estate said the payment was due under the lease terms and that the property’s lease has ended. The Crown Estate said Mountbatten-Windsor paid £1.8 million toward repair and restoration work. The compensation reduced that amount to £1.5 million, according to the estate. The 30-room property is in Windsor. The payment follows an earlier expectation from the Crown Estate that repair costs could absorb any compensation. In a letter to the Commons Public Accounts Committee in December, the estate said it did not believe compensation would remain after those costs were considered. It said a full assessment by a dilapidations expert after the property was vacated was needed to validate that position. The reports do not explain what assessment or calculation led to the eventual £302,000 payment. The Crown Estate said a compensation clause was included in the lease because Mountbatten-Windsor paid £7.5 million for refurbishment in 2005.