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1 Nov 2025 16:59
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  •   Home > News > International

    The mystery of Prince Andrew's finances and why there are calls for more transparency

    Andrew remains the subject of a mystery many are flummoxed by. The king's brother has not had a paid job for large chunks of his life, yet somehow he has managed to fund a luxury lifestyle.


    As well as being a royal pariah, Andrew remains the subject of a mystery many are flummoxed by.

    The king's brother has not had a paid job for large chunks of his life, yet somehow he has managed to fund a luxury lifestyle.

    A chalet in the Alps, first-class globe-trotting, hordes of personal staff and a fleet of flashy cars.

    But for years there have been questions about how he has been paying for it all.

    The finances of many royals, including Andrew, are shrouded in secrecy and the former prince's status as a member of the British monarchy makes him immune from freedom of information enquiries.

    It means Andrew's earnings and financial gifts remain hidden from public view, despite being stripped of his titles and kicked out of the Royal Lodge.

    Andrew's 'extravagant lifestyle'

    The prince has earned a reputation as a profligate spender with a penchant for the finer things in life.

    According to author, Andrew Lownie, who wrote an unauthorised biography on Andrew called Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, published earlier this year, the royal owns a collection of luxury cars, including a top-of-the-line Bentley.

    He also possesses a collection of expensive watches, among them a Patek Philippe time piece worth almost 150,000 British pounds ($300,000).

    A person close to Andrew once described him as a "hot air balloon that floats serenely in rarefied circles without any visible means of support", Lownie wrote.

    Andrew's only publicly-listed source of income is a pension he receives from his time in the navy between 1979 and 2001, which reportedly amounts to 20,000 British pounds a year.

    "It remains a mystery how Andrew has been able to afford such an extravagant lifestyle without any sources of income beyond his naval pension," Lownie wrote.

    He reportedly earned a generous salary for pressing the flesh and attending various royal engagements as a working member of the royal family.

    His wage was never publicly disclosed but reportedly amounted to £249,000 British pounds a year. 

    Norman Baker, author of a book on royal finances, And What Do You Do? described it as a "tax-free handout", according to the Times.

    It is believed the "salary" covered the period between 1978 and 2010.

    Andrew's payments have not been publicly disclosed since then because of a legislative change in Britain, which shifted the way the monarchy was funded by taxpayers and prevented the regular publication of how much public money the Windsors received.

    Andrew stepped down as a full-time working royal in 2019.

    It has been reported that Queen Elizabeth II dipped into her personal wealth to prop up the fallen prince after he stepped back.

    In Lownie's book, it is speculated that Andrew inherited a large trust income from his grandmother, the Queen Mother.

    "It's reputed that Andrew inherited trust income from the Queen Mother, either at birth, on reaching majority (legal age) or in the 1990s," he wrote.

    The Swiss chalet 

    In 2014, then Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, bought a stunning chalet in the Swiss ski resort town of Verbier, a known winter getaway for Europe's high society and uber rich.

    He purchased the home from French socialite Isabelle De Rouvre, for 14 million British pounds, according to court filings.

    At the time, sources told the BBC that no "external party" helped with funding the purchase of the glamorous seat on the slopes.

    Andrew sold the chalet in 2022 for 19 million British pounds.

    The timing of the sale prompted many to speculate that Andrew needed the profits to partly fund his settlement payment to Virginia Giuffre.

    Giuffre, who took her own life in April this year, accused the royal of sexually assaulting her when she was a 17-year-old in 2001.

    In her posthumous memoir, she wrote that she was forced by sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to sleep with Andrew on three separate occasions.

    Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegations but in 2022 he paid Giuffre what is widely believed to be around 12 million British pounds in a settlement.

    Lownie's biography states that as well as the windfall from his Switzerland sale, Andrew received a bridging loan from his brother, then Prince Charles, to pay Giuffre.

    The portion of the settlement set aside for charity, 2 million British pounds, was provided by his mother, the queen.

    A luxury lease at the Royal Lodge

    It has often been claimed that Andrew was the Queen's "favourite" son.

    In 2001, she signed off on a Crown Estate lease that would see the then prince take residence of Royal Lodge.

    The home had previously been the residence of the queen's mother, and the sprawling 30-room mansion in Great Windsor Park was in desperate need of repair.

    It was recently revealed that the prince is only required to pay the Crown Estate rent of "one peppercorn (if demanded) per annum" as part of the leasehold agreement.

    But Andrew did agree to pay 7.5 million British pounds to fix the digs up.

    The enormous refurbishment cost — as well as a 1 million British pounds one-off payment for the 75-year lease — meant that Andrew was spared from paying rent.

    Andrew also agreed to pay to maintain the property, with running costs for the large home built in 1840 reportedly extremely expensive.

    He must also foot the bill for almost all the large security presence that surrounds the premises.

    Given King Charles reportedly cut Andrew off financially last year, it is unclear how the prince has been funding it all.

    This week, the ABC paid a visit to Royal Lodge to investigate.

    When we ventured up to the front gate of the property, about an hour's drive west of London, two men in a Range Rover swiftly stopped us in our tracks and asked us to leave.

    At least three uniformed police officers observed us as we sheepishly made our way out of the Great Windsor Park.

    The security seemed comparable to a large government building.

    Andrew's luxe travel as unpaid trade envoy

    Even when Andrew had a job outside his role as a working royal — albeit unpaid — questions were raised about his expenses.

    More than a decade ago he represented the United Kingdom as a "trade envoy", a role that earned him the nickname "air miles Andy".

    Andrew did not earn a salary, but his expenses were paid for by the taxpayer.

    The former prince was known to travel lavishly, often to the Middle East with the remit of promoting investment in the UK.

    Former deputy ambassador to Bahrain Simon Wilson told British broadcaster Channel 4 that when Andrew travelled to the Gulf country he "always refused to stay in ambassador's residences".

    "He'd only want to stay at the Royal Suite at the best hotel," he added.

    "He'd often travel with a large entourage which would often include a clerk whose sole purpose was to write thank you letters."

    Eyebrows were raised when Andew held meetings with Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif, and also when he entertained the son-in-law of Tunisia's ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali at Buckingham Palace.

    The prince's relations with Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of the president of Kazakhstan, also came under scrutiny when Mr Kulibayev bought Andrew's former home for 3 million British pounds more than the asking price in 2007.

    In 2011, Andrew stood down from the role as trade envoy due to his ties to Epstein, who three years earlier had been convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution.

    Multiple media outlets have reported that both Andrew and Sarah Ferguson maintained contact with Epstein well after they claimed to have broken off contact with him in 2010.

    Ferguson later admitted to receiving 15,000 British pounds from Epstein to "cover debts". She apologised for accepting the money in March 2011.

    'His last bit of royal status'

    With much of Andrew's finances still a mystery, there have been growing calls for more transparency. 

    Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said that Andrew should be brought in front of MPs to give evidence about his lease of Royal Lodge.

    Before that could be done, King Charles moved to kick his brother out of his home.

    Formal notice was given to Andrew on Thursday, local time, that he would need to surrender the lease of his mansion and move to private accommodation.

    He will relocate to Sandringham Estate, privately funded by the king, according to reports in the British media including the BBC.

    "It's his last bit of royal status," Lownie told the ABC when asked about Andrew's tenancy in Royal Lodge earlier this month.

    The king's decision may end the questions over the former prince's lease arrangement but the remainder of Andrew's opaque personal finances could still remain a mystery. 

    A timeline of Andrew's demise

    Tap the boxes below to see the key dates in the series of events that ended with Andrew being stripped of his royal titles and told to leave home. 

    2001–2011

    March, 2001: Photo taken of Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre (then known as Virginia Roberts) and Ghislaine Maxwell in London — allegedly by late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

    December, 2010: Prince Andrew photographed with Epstein in Central Park, New York — after Epstein was released from prison on a sexual offence charge

    February 21, 2011: New York Post publishes photo of Andrew and Epstein with headline "Prince and perv"

    February 27, 2011: Daily Mail publishes interview with Virginia Giuffre and the now infamous photo — but article stops short of accusing him of misconduct 

    February 28, 2011: Prince Andrew allegedly emails Epstein saying "we're in this together" and "we'll play some more soon" in reference to negative press

     

    2015–2019

    Janaury, 2015: Allegations Prince Andrew has sex with a minor made public as part of a lawsuit against Epstein 

    January, 2015: Daily Mail publishes story identifying Virginia Roberts as the victim in the case, including details of the night of the alleged offence

    July, 2019: Epstein arrested on sex trafficking charges 

    August, 2019: Epstein found dead in his jail cell

    November 16, 2019: Prince Andrew gives lengthy interview with BBC denying sexual abuse allegations, saying he does not sweat, that he cut off contact with Epstein in December 2010 and questioning the legitimacy of the 2001 photo

    November 20, 2019: Prince Andrew steps back from public duties "for the foreseeable future" because his relations with Epstein became "a major disruption"

    2021–2025

    September, 2021: Prince Andrew served with sexual assault civil lawsuit papers, lodged in the US by Virginia Giuffre

    October, 2021: British police say they will not be taking further action after conducting a review of evidence relating to sex crime allegations against Prince Andrew 

    Janaury, 2022: Prince Andrew is stripped of his honorary military titles after a judge rejects his bid to have the civil lawsuit dismissed — but he remains a prince and the Duke of York

    February, 2022: Prince Andrew reaches a settlement with Virginia Giuffre in her civil case, agreeing to donate to her victims' rights charity 

    September, 2024: Prince Andrew told to pay for the upkeep of the 30-room Royal Lodge mansion he rents from the Crown Estate if he wants to keep living there, the BBC reports

    December 14, 2024: Prince Andrew says he "ceased all contact" with an unnamed businessman accused of being a Chinese spy

    February, 2025: saying "we're in this together" and "we'll play soon" from a member of the royal family — who British media says it's believed was Prince Andrew

    April, 2025: Virginia Giuffre dies by suicide, with her family calling her a "fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking"

    September, 2025: Multiple charities cut ties with Prince Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson after it was revealed she emailed Epstein calling him "a supreme friend" in 2011

    October 12, 2025: The Daily Mail and The Sun claim to have confirmed the email was sent from Prince Andrew — contradicting his assertion he cut off contacts with Epstein in December 2010

    October 15, 2025: Extracts of Virginia Giuffre's memoir published by British media revive allegations against Prince Andrew 

    October 16, 2015: British newspaper The Telegraph publishes story linking Prince Andrew with a different "Chinese spymaster"

    October 17, 2025: Prince Andrew announces he will no longer use his titles and honours while "vigorously" denying allegations — however, he has not been stripped of his Dukedom and is referred to as a prince

    October 21, 2025: The BBC reveals details of Prince Andrew's "peppercorn" lease of Royal Lodge amid growing scrutiny in his lavish living arrangements 

    October 30, 2025: Prince Andrew is stripped of his royal titles and told to leave Royal Lodge — he is now referred to as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor

    © 2025 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

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