Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor handed compensation over Royal Lodge repair bill

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been awarded £302,000 in compensation from the Crown Estate. The group manages Royal Lodge, which the former prince was forced to moved out of earlier this year. What's next? The Crown Estate is yet to decide what the stately home will be used for. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been awarded £302,000 ($572,000) in compensation after he was forced to surrender the lease on his long-time home, Royal Lodge. King Charles asked the former prince to vacate the 30-room stately home on Windsor Estate near Windsor Castle earlier last year after public outcry over his relationship with convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein. On Friday, the Crown Estate said Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was entitled to compensation because he moved out of the property less than 25 years into his 75-year lease. The lease, signed in 2003, required Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to spend £7.5 million on renovating the property and make a one-time payment of £1 million. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was entitled to compensation for the renovation expenses if he surrendered the lease within the first 25 years, according to the Crown Estate. After the compensation has been paid, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has still given the Crown Estate £1.5 million. The Crown Estate is an independent company established by UK Parliament to manage a vast portfolio of property throughout Britain that is nominally owned by the sovereign but operated for the benefit of taxpayers. “The lease for Royal Lodge has ended and our focus now is firmly on its future use and the opportunities to generate additional financial value for the nation from its early return,” the Crown Estate said in a statement. King Charles III stripped his younger brother of his princely title and ordered him to leave Royal Lodge last year as the monarch sought to shield the rest of the royal family from the continuing scandal of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Epstein. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, gave up his role as trade envoy in 2011 and stepped away from all royal duties in 2019 because of concerns about that relationship.