Prince Andrew's finances have long been a source of intrigue, but with mounting scrutiny over his links to Jeffrey Epstein and alleged sexual exploitation of Virginia Giuffre, British politicians are calling for an end to the secrecy. Despite being sidelined from royal duties and burdened by scandal, the disgraced prince manages to maintain a lavish lifestyle. The problem: almost nobody knows how he's paying for it. His only declared income is a Royal Navy pension of about $27,000 a year, a sum dwarfed by the cost of his home's upkeep, security estimated to cost $4 million a year, and past purchases such as a Swiss chalet reportedly bought for $24 million, the Guardian reports.
Officially, Andrew received public funds as a working royal up until 2010, and after that, direct payments from Queen Elizabeth II. He also reportedly received a private allowance from King Charles III until it was cut off last year. But these sources don't fully explain his continued access to millions. Allegations have swirled for years that Andrew capitalized on his royal status while serving as a UK trade envoy, allegedly brokering deals and leveraging connections with wealthy foreigners for personal gain. One eyebrow-raising episode: the 2007 sale of his Sunninghill mansion to the son-in-law of Kazakhstan's president for $4 million over the asking price.
Adding to the mystery are opaque business dealings, undisclosed investments, and one-off windfalls—such as a $1 million payment linked to a financier later accused of fraud, which Andrew repaid. It recently emerged that the prince has been paying only a token rent on Royal Lodge, the sprawling 30-room mansion near Windsor Castle he has lived in since 2003, the BBC reports. He paid $ 10 million for refurbishments when he moved in, but the 2003 lease agreement requires a symbolic payment of just "one peppercorn" a year, per CNN. Sources tell the BBC that the prince might be moving to a smaller property on the grounds of the castle.
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"It's about time Prince Andrew took himself off to live in private and make his own way in life. He has disgraced himself, he has embarrassed the royal family time and again," Conservative lawmaker Robert Jenrick said last week. "The public are sick of him." Lawmakers are calling for an inquiry into the property issues and a wider reform of the secrecy around royal finances. There have also been calls to formally strip the prince of the Duke of York title he recently agreed to stop using.
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