UK royal, Prince Andrew could get millions of pounds in compensation if he is forced out of his 31-room mansion..
The Duke of York, 61, has faced calls for him to quit his expensive Royal Lodge home after he settled with his sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre this week to pay her off with £12million.
But documents released by The Sun reveal he is entitled to up to £7million if he leaves the 31-bed Windsor mansion.
Andrew paid just £1million for a 75-year lease in 2003 when he moved into the Queen Mother’s former home.
As at press time the Royal Lodge would be worth around £30million on the open market and has a swimming pool which Andrew added as part of a £7.5million refurb.
It sits in 40 hectares of woodland and manicured lawns which is equivalent in area to 75 football pitches.
Royal expert Margaret Holder said: “The compensation would give Andrew a potential source of funding to repay loans to the Queen and anybody else who would lend him the money.
“If he were to move to another smaller, more modest and more distant property, he wouldn’t be seen quite so often and would be a greater distance from.
A 2005 National Audit Office report states Andrew cannot “gain financially from any increase in the value of the property” and if he leaves, it reverts to the Crown estate
The report adds he would receive “compensation in respect of the refurbishment costs”.
“The maximum compensation of just under £7million is subject to annual reductions over the first 25 years of the lease, so that at the end of that period, there is nil compensation payable.”
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