MPs urged to push for ‘radical reform’ after NAO finds former prince made income from Royal Lodge propertiesCampaigners have called for radical reform and a public inquiry into all royal finances after revelations that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Royal Lodge estate while paying a “peppercorn rent”.A report from the public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO), found the rental income went to the former Duke
MPs urged to push for ‘radical reform’ after NAO finds former prince made income from Royal Lodge properties
Campaigners have called for radical reform and a public inquiry into all royal finances after revelations that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Royal Lodge estate while paying a “peppercorn rent”.
A report from the public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO), found the rental income went to the former Duke of York, but said: “We do not know what rent was charged.”
Report into royal property affairs reveals disgraced ex-prince generated private income from Windsor Royal LodgeAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor received private income from subletting three cottages on his Windsor Royal Lodge estate while paying a “peppercorn rent” to the crown estate, a report into royal property arrangements has revealed.The National Audit Office (NAO) review also shows that King Charles pays an “adjusted” rent from his private Duchy of Lancaster income, below open market value, fo
Report into royal property affairs reveals disgraced ex-prince generated private income from Windsor Royal Lodge
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received private income from subletting three cottages on his Windsor Royal Lodge estate while paying a “peppercorn rent” to the crown estate, a report into royal property arrangements has revealed.
The National Audit Office (NAO) review also shows that King Charles pays an “adjusted” rent from his private Duchy of Lancaster income, below open market value, for his disgraced brother’s non-working royal daughters, princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, to live in royal palaces.
No one’s name appears in the Epstein files more than that of Lesley Groff, his assistant. Reading through the thousands of emails, a troubling question arises: what did she know?Jonathan Whitcomb, attorney for Lesley Groff, 5 June 2020“She did not know.”FBI interview with Lesley Groff, 24 September 2021Groff met with a headhunter, and he told her that “there was a job to organize one man’s life. This man was EPSTEIN, a Manhattan socialite. GROFF had never heard of EPSTEIN before this.”Interview
No one’s name appears in the Epstein files more than that of Lesley Groff, his assistant. Reading through the thousands of emails, a troubling question arises: what did she know?
Jonathan Whitcomb, attorney for Lesley Groff, 5 June 2020
Groff met with a headhunter, and he told her that “there was a job to organize one man’s life. This man was EPSTEIN, a Manhattan socialite. GROFF had never heard of EPSTEIN before this.”
Forgive me if I’m not congratulating officers for investigating Andrew now – instead of, say, many years ago when they were with him in Jeffrey Epstein’s houseHow noble that Thames Valley police has let it be known that its misconduct-in-public-office investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is also considering potential offences including corruption and sexual misconduct. On Friday, it made a public appeal for potential victims and witnesses to come forward.Obviously, the best time for the
Forgive me if I’m not congratulating officers for investigating Andrew now – instead of, say, many years ago when they were with him in Jeffrey Epstein’s house
How noble that Thames Valley police has let it be known that its misconduct-in-public-office investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is also considering potential offences including corruption and sexual misconduct. On Friday, it made a public appeal for potential victims and witnesses to come forward.
Obviously, the best time for the police to have started quietly asking questions was shortly after Metropolitan police officers – Andrew’s close protection detail – ferried him back from a London nightclub to a house with some other friends in their 40s, and one young-looking 17-year-old girl. Then waited outside till he decided it was time to come home. But as the saying goes: the second-best time is now. No wait, the second-best time was probably when Andrew paid a reported £12m to settle out of court with Virginia Giuffre, despite maintaining he had no recollection of meeting her. (He denies any wrongdoing.) Ach no, the second-best time was when leaked emails suggest the former prince passed his Met close protection officer Giuffre’s birthdate and US social security number and asked him to carry out checks on her. Sorry, wrong again, the second-best time was a full 12 years ago, when Giuffre alleged that she was sex trafficked to and assaulted by Andrew on that night mentioned above, as well as on two other occasions.
Marina Hyde’s new book, What a Time to be Alive!, is out in September (Guardian Faber Publishing, £20). To support the Guardian, order your signed copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist
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New papers matter less for royal gossip than for what they reveal about the UK’s fragile constitutional culture of trust, prestige and informal powerThe most shocking revelation in files released on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as Britain’s trade envoy isn’t that he loves golf or prefers ballet over theatre. It is that no one asked the obvious question: how risky would it be for a headline-grabbing prince with no business experience to front the UK’s commercial diplomacy without form
New papers matter less for royal gossip than for what they reveal about the UK’s fragile constitutional culture of trust, prestige and informal power
The most shocking revelation in files released on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as Britain’s trade envoy isn’t that he loves golf or prefers ballet over theatre. It is that no one asked the obvious question: how risky would it be for a headline-grabbing prince with no business experience to front the UK’s commercial diplomacy without formal vetting? The 11 documents that were released on Thursday show that having experience and being an expert weren’t as important as being a member of the royal family. After the Epstein scandal, those assumptions no longer look merely anachronistic. They look dangerous.
The late Queen pushed, wrongly as it turned out, for her son to inherit the role from the Duke of Kent, according to the papers released through a humble address motion. David Wright, then head of British Trade International, wrote that it was her wish for the then Duke of York to assume a “prominent role in the promotion of national interests”. In 2000, royalty was not peripheral to Britain’s commercial diplomacy. It was central to it.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Documents released by government also show late queen was ‘very keen’ for her son to have prominent roleUK politics live – latest updatesFormal security vetting and due diligence appears not to have been carried out before the appointment of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a trade envoy, the government has said, as it emerged that the late queen was “very keen” for her son to take up a prominent role in promoting Britain’s interests.The first batch of documents relating to the appointment of the f
Formal security vetting and due diligence appears not to have been carried out before the appointment of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a trade envoy, the government has said, as it emerged that the late queen was “very keen” for her son to take up a prominent role in promoting Britain’s interests.
The first batch of documents relating to the appointment of the former prince as trade envoy by Tony Blair in 2001 includes a memo dated 25 February 2000 and addressed to Robin Cook, then the foreign secretary, in which the then chief executive of British Trade International, David Wright, said Queen Elizabeth II’s “wish” had been for Mountbatten-Windsor, then the Duke of York, to take on the role.
Chris Bryant gives statement to parliament following the release of documents todayThe Home Office has also published asylum figures this morning. These show that the number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in hotels stood at 20,885 at the end of March 2026, down 35% year-on-year from 32,326. The Press Association says:It is the lowest figure since data was first reported in 2022, Home Office figures show.The total had climbed as high as 56,018 at the end of September 2023.Brits are le
Chris Bryant gives statement to parliament following the release of documents today
The Home Office has also published asylum figures this morning. These show that the number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in hotels stood at 20,885 at the end of March 2026, down 35% year-on-year from 32,326. The Press Association says:
It is the lowest figure since data was first reported in 2022, Home Office figures show.
The total had climbed as high as 56,018 at the end of September 2023.
Brits are leaving on a massive scale and non-EU immigration remains far too high. Mass immigration undermines our society and low wage immigration is bad for the economy. British families feel it in lower wages, longer waiting lists for public services and housing shortages.
Labour must go further and reform indefinite leave to remain before their hard-left flank forces them to abandon it altogether.
Farage was given £5m by the Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 general electionExclusive: Farage was given undisclosed £5m by crypto billionaire in 2024Here is the running order for PMQs.Nigel Farage was given £5m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, Anna Isaac reports. Continue reading...
Nigel Farage was given £5m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, Anna Isaac reports.
Police investigating allegations Mandelson and former prince Andrew passed sensitive info to Epstein will struggle to make charges stick without filesBritish police investigating the former prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson are preparing to start interviewing witnesses in royal and government circles.It comes as police fear that prosecutors will be “reluctant” to bring charges unless the Trump administration agrees to hand over the original documents from the Epstein files. Continue reading...
Police investigating allegations Mandelson and former prince Andrew passed sensitive info to Epstein will struggle to make charges stick without files
British police investigating the former prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson are preparing to start interviewing witnesses in royal and government circles.
It comes as police fear that prosecutors will be “reluctant” to bring charges unless the Trump administration agrees to hand over the original documents from the Epstein files.
The ‘Council of Andrews’ started as a bit of fun – but has led to friendships, financial help and even fiances…It’s a rough time to be called Andrew. In recent years, notorious figures such as Andrew Tate and the former prince have dominated the headlines, giving us a bad name. Even the CEO caught up in that Coldplay scandal was an Andy. It’s been a bad run. As an Andrew myself, I wanted to unearth some better representatives, so I recently set out on a mission: to find some fellow Andrews doing
The ‘Council of Andrews’ started as a bit of fun – but has led to friendships, financial help and even fiances…
It’s a rough time to be called Andrew. In recent years, notorious figures such as Andrew Tate and the former prince have dominated the headlines, giving us a bad name. Even the CEO caught up in that Coldplay scandal was an Andy. It’s been a bad run. As an Andrew myself, I wanted to unearth some better representatives, so I recently set out on a mission: to find some fellow Andrews doing good in the world.
That’s how I stumbled upon thousands of Andrews at once.
When it comes to scandal, seeing is believing – which is why these images caused such a stirWords can tell a story, but it’s pictures that will make you believe in it. Such is the power of a photograph; the ability to strip away illusions, to illuminate something hidden, and sometimes force us to accept unpalatable truths. When it comes to scandal, seeing is believing – occasionally even to the point that a picture changes the course of history.How might life have been different for Andrew Mount
When it comes to scandal, seeing is believing – which is why these images caused such a stir
Words can tell a story, but it’s pictures that will make you believe in it. Such is the power of a photograph; the ability to strip away illusions, to illuminate something hidden, and sometimes force us to accept unpalatable truths. When it comes to scandal, seeing is believing – occasionally even to the point that a picture changes the course of history.
How might life have been different for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had he not been photographed clutching the midriff of the 17-year-old girl he would later claim he had never met? Without this haunting triptych of the former prince, the late Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein’s fixer, Ghislaine Maxwell, hovering in the background, there would have been nothing physical to connect the then prince with a trafficking victim. Though for years Andrew’s friends insisted that the photograph must have been doctored, buried within the Epstein files recently released by the US Department of Justice is a note from Maxwell that appears to confirm it is real.
Guardian analysis of more than a million emails reveals financier’s deep and longstanding ties with the wealthy and powerfulThe release of the Epstein files has reverberated around the world, leading to at least nine resignations and investigations into high-profile figures, including the former UK ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, and the ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.The deluge of information has made it hard to assess the extent of the connections but a Guardian data analysis
Guardian analysis of more than a million emails reveals financier’s deep and longstanding ties with the wealthy and powerful
The release of the Epstein files has reverberated around the world, leading to at least nine resignations and investigations into high-profile figures, including the former UK ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, and the ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The deluge of information has made it hard to assess the extent of the connections but a Guardian data analysis reveals how frequent, deep and longstanding his ties were to a number of high-profile figures.
Advisers say to ‘assume the cameras are always rolling’ as exchanges can be decoded in seconds and posted onlineRoyals and celebrities are being warned by their representatives and advisers to watch what they say when they are out of the house – or palace – as a lip-reading phenomenon means videos can be posted online and translated in seconds.Prince William was recently embroiled after a video of him speaking to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was translated by an expert lip-reader who was working a
Advisers say to ‘assume the cameras are always rolling’ as exchanges can be decoded in seconds and posted online
Royals and celebrities are being warned by their representatives and advisers to watch what they say when they are out of the house – or palace – as a lip-reading phenomenon means videos can be posted online and translated in seconds.
Prince William was recently embroiled after a video of him speaking to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was translated by an expert lip-reader who was working as part of a forthcoming Channel 5 documentary, Lip-Reading the Royals.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ‘deplorable’ alleged actions warrant his removal from the royal line of succession, Carney saysThe Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be removed from the royal line of succession for alleged actions he described as “deplorable”.Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Carney said the actions that have caused the former prince to be stripped of his royal titles “necessitate” his removal from the line of succession. Continue reading
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ‘deplorable’ alleged actions warrant his removal from the royal line of succession, Carney says
The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be removed from the royal line of succession for alleged actions he described as “deplorable”.
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Carney said the actions that have caused the former prince to be stripped of his royal titles “necessitate” his removal from the line of succession.
Amy Wallace spent years helping Giuffre write her life story. Now she reflects on what the survivor would have thought of the release of the Epstein filesThere are many reasons why Amy Wallace wishes Virginia Roberts Giuffre was still alive. Some are personal. Some are practical. But at its heart pulse the reverberations of a child sex trafficking scandal that reaches into palaces and courtrooms across the globe.Wallace is the now very visible ghostwriter behind the posthumous memoir Nobody’s Gi
Amy Wallace spent years helping Giuffre write her life story. Now she reflects on what the survivor would have thought of the release of the Epstein files
There are many reasons why Amy Wallace wishes Virginia Roberts Giuffre was still alive. Some are personal. Some are practical. But at its heart pulse the reverberations of a child sex trafficking scandal that reaches into palaces and courtrooms across the globe.
Wallace is the now very visible ghostwriter behind the posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl, by Jeffrey Epstein’s best-known accuser.
Could the royal family’s latest troubles usher in a new era of diplomatic dressing? As Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was taken into police custody last week, his brother King Charles made a “surprise” appearance on the front row at the opening of London fashion week. Styled in one of his staple jaunty ties, clashing pocket handkerchief and British-made suit, it sent the message loud and clear: this was business as usual.That message persisted when, at the Baftas at the weekend, the Prince and Princ
Could the royal family’s latest troubles usher in a new era of diplomatic dressing?
As Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was taken into police custody last week, his brother King Charles made a “surprise” appearance on the front row at the opening of London fashion week. Styled in one of his staple jaunty ties, clashing pocket handkerchief and British-made suit, it sent the message loud and clear: this was business as usual.
That message persisted when, at the Baftas at the weekend, the Prince and Princess of Wales showed a united front in coordinated burgundy velvet (“Pantone diplomacy”, as the New York Times put it). Catherine’s blush Gucci gown showed not just solidarity in hue but also, arguably, signalled her ethics in a week when the royal family’s came under fire: she’d worn the dress before, on a previous outing.
MPs will meet on Tuesday to discuss the former prince, as it emerged he pestered ministers for a bigger government roleAn influential committee of MPs could launch an inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s role as a UK trade envoy despite his arrest, it is understood, as it emerged that the disgraced former royal pestered ministers about getting a bigger government role.After his arrest on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the cross-party business and trade committee said
MPs will meet on Tuesday to discuss the former prince, as it emerged he pestered ministers for a bigger government role
An influential committee of MPs could launch an inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s role as a UK trade envoy despite his arrest, it is understood, as it emerged that the disgraced former royal pestered ministers about getting a bigger government role.
Moves come after Gordon Brown’s claim that files show that US sex offender used Stansted airport in Essex to ‘fly in girls’ British police have expanded their interest in the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s links to Britain, by admitting for the first time they are looking at claims he used dozens of private flights into UK airports to traffic women.It comes after former prime minister Gordon Brown said that documents about Epstein released in the US showed in “graphic detail” how the d
Moves come after Gordon Brown’s claim that files show that US sex offender used Stansted airport in Essex to ‘fly in girls’
British police have expanded their interest in the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s links to Britain, by admitting for the first time they are looking at claims he used dozens of private flights into UK airports to traffic women.
It comes after former prime minister Gordon Brown said that documents about Epstein released in the US showed in “graphic detail” how the disgraced financier, with links to high-profile people including the former Prince Andrew, was able to use Stansted airport in Essex to “fly in girls from Latvia, Lithuania and Russia”.
Messages from ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to sex offender, sent after his conviction, came to light last monthSix companies linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, are being wound down in the wake of revelations about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.According to Companies House, an application to strike off each company was filed after new details about Ferguson’s contact with Epstein came to light in the millions of documents released by US authorities as
Messages from ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to sex offender, sent after his conviction, came to light last month
Six companies linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, are being wound down in the wake of revelations about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
According to Companies House, an application to strike off each company was filed after new details about Ferguson’s contact with Epstein came to light in the millions of documents released by US authorities as part of the Epstein files.
Head of Crown Prosecution Service says he is confident police will examine any evidence of potential misconductThe head of the Crown Prosecution Service has said “nobody is above the law” amid growing pressure on police to fully investigate Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s links with Jeffrey Epstein.Thames Valley police said earlier this week they were in discussion with the CPS over allegations of misconduct in public office against the former prince. Continue reading...
Head of Crown Prosecution Service says he is confident police will examine any evidence of potential misconduct
The head of the Crown Prosecution Service has said “nobody is above the law” amid growing pressure on police to fully investigate Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s links with Jeffrey Epstein.
Thames Valley police said earlier this week they were in discussion with the CPS over allegations of misconduct in public office against the former prince.
Anmelden
