// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Andrew received up to £2,000 per month from sub-letting, watchdog reports
MPs investigated Mountbatten-Windsor's lease arrangements at Royal Lodge
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was receiving up to £2,000 per month for sub-letting three cottages at his former home at Royal Lodge, when he didn't have to pay any rent himself, according to the public spending watchdog.
The Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the Crown Estate says the former Prince Andrew did not always rent out all the properties, so it cannot say how much the total might have been over more than 20 years of his time there.
The sub-letting income went to Mountbatten-Windsor, rather than his landlord the Crown Estate.
MPs on the committee have recommended that in future such leases should prohibit sub-letting, unless specifically agreed with the landlord.
Mountbatten-Windsor left his Royal Lodge home in Windsor in February, in the wake of revelations about his connections to the US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and has been approached for comment.
The Public Accounts Committee has examined the leases on such royal properties as part of a wider inquiry into the management of the Crown Estate, which is an independent property company that pays its profits to the Treasury.
Mountbatten-Windsor had taken on a 75-year lease for Royal Lodge in 2003 and had paid about £7.5m towards its renovation and other charges, which meant that he did not have to pay rent.
But it emerged that as a tenant he had been intermittently sub-letting three cottages that were part of the property, which was thought to be for staff and at a below market rate, with Mountbatten-Windsor keeping the income.