"MPs on a powerful parliamentary select committee are pushing hard to launch an inquiry into Prince Andrew's residence at Royal Lodge, the Guardian understands. Keir Starmer has indicated he is open to MPs questioning Andrew in person about his home in Windsor Great Park, where he has lived for more than 20 years without paying rent. MPs on the public accounts committee, which scrutinises public spending, are understood to be gathering support to launch their inquiry into the financial arrangements."
"Andrew has leased the Royal Lodge from the UK state's property empire, the crown estate, since 2003, making a one-off payment of 1m to lease the property for 75 years though paying for 7.5m in refurbishments. He pays one peppercorn a year in rent. If he were forced to leave the mansion, the crown estate would have to pay him compensation. The pressure comes amid fresh allegations made about the prince in the posthumous memoir by the Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, who said she had sex with Andrew on three separate occasions. She also said the prince's team tried to hire internet trolls to hassle her online."
"The former chair of the committee, Margaret Hodge, has publicly criticised the living arrangements of Andrew, who has been stripped of his dukedom by the palace after new revelations about his friendship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffery Epstein. The government is facing mounting pressure over the prince's residence in the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor, where it was revealed that he has not paid rent for more than two decades."
MPs on the public accounts committee are pushing to open an inquiry into Prince Andrew’s residence at Royal Lodge. Keir Starmer has signalled openness to MPs questioning Andrew in person about his Windsor Great Park home, where he has lived for more than 20 years without paying conventional rent. The committee, chaired by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, would need a full-committee agreement to proceed. Andrew leased Royal Lodge from the crown estate in 2003 with a one-off 1m payment for 75 years and paid about 7.5m for refurbishments while paying a peppercorn annual rent. Fresh allegations by Virginia Giuffre and public criticism have intensified calls for scrutiny; Andrew denies wrongdoing, and ministers have said people should pay their way.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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