The financial and residential ties between Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the Crown Estate are being completely severed. Just weeks after being forced out of his long-time home, Royal Lodge, the 66-year-old is now surrendering the lease on another property: East Lodge. This graceful 19th-century, thatched cottage near Windsor is the latest royal residence lease he has relinquished as public and political pressure intensifies.
The surrender, confirmed on March 3, marks another significant step in the dismantling of the former prince’s once-extensive housing portfolio. It comes at a time when every aspect of his private and public life is under an unforgiving microscope, following his historic arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
East Lodge is a Grade II-listed building located near Sunninghill Park in Berkshire, approximately five miles from Windsor Castle. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor originally took out the lease on the property in February 1998. Unlike the controversial arrangement at Royal Lodge, this lease was always held on commercial terms with the Crown Estate, an independent commercial body whose profits are returned to the Treasury.
For years, the property served as accommodation for a member of his staff, who continues to live there. The terms of the lease were most recently renewed in 2020, with a clause for the rent to increase with inflation. By August 2025, the annual rent had risen to nearly £13,000, a figure far below the market rate for a property in one of the UK’s most expensive postal codes. The lease was not due to expire until July 2027.
The catalyst for the early termination appears to be a Freedom of Information request submitted by the BBC in January 2026 concerning the property. The Crown Estate has stated that following this request, they received a request to consider ending the lease early. The legal process for surrender is now underway.
This development coincides with a broader inquiry by the Public Accounts Committee into the management of royal leases. The committee’s chairman has stated the investigation aims to “aid transparency in public-interest information” and ensure value for money for the taxpayer, bringing the terms of such agreements under intense scrutiny.
The loss of the East Lodge lease is the latest blow in a rapid and unprecedented downfall. In early February, he officially moved out of Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park he had called home for over two decades. That eviction was orchestrated by King Charles III following the release of thousands of pages of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, which re-exposed his connections to the convicted sex offender.
The situation escalated dramatically on February 19. On his 66th birthday, he was arrested at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The investigation centers on an allegation that he shared confidential government information with Epstein during his time as the UK’s special trade envoy in the 2000s. He was released after 11 hours in custody but remains under investigation, a legal process that could, in a worst-case scenario, result in a life sentence. He now resides in a property on the Sandringham estate owned by the King, while the world watches to see if the law will take its course.
