Former prince Andrew emerges with bruised face, accused of sub-letting houses while paying ‘peppercorn rent’

The former prince Andrew has been photographed with a bruised face as it emerged the disgraced royal earned a private income from sub-letting cottages while paying a symbolic “peppercorn rent” for a mansion for over two decades.

The giant bruise underneath his right eye can be seen in photographs taken as Mr Mountbatten-Windsor drove a Land Rover out of his Sandringham estate in Norfolk on Thursday (UK time).

According to UK media reports, the discolouration was caused “by a non-serious medical condition” rather than an altercation or accident with speculation it was the result of using blood thinners. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, was last seen in public two weeks ago without the bruising.

King Charles younger brother until recently lived in the Royal Lodge on the royal family’s Windsor estate near London.

While living virtually rent free in a 30-room house, Andrew pocketed proceeds from subletting three cottages on its large grounds, a report on royal property income by the National Audit Office revealed, amid debate over the family’s opaque property arrangements.

The National Audit Office said “three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate were ... sublet”, with “income generated from subletting payable to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor”.

“We do not know what rent was charged,” the National Audit Office said.

The cottages have been vacant since April, it said.

Andrew’s daughters Beatrice and Eugenie have apartments at royal palaces with rent paid from the privy purse- King Charles’s private income - despite not being working royals, the report also revealed.

This comes as parliament’s Public Accounts Committee is set to launch an inquiry this year into royal properties.

He paid a £1 million ($1.89m) “premium” to lease the Royal Lodge, agreeing to spend $14m on improvements to secure a 75-year-lease on a peppercorn rent.

The lease allowed Andrew to claim compensation for ending it early.

By moving out this year, he could claim over $5.7m but is expected to receive nothing because of needed repairs, according to the Crown Estate.

This self-funding public corporation that manages royal properties is supposed to follow finance ministry guidelines on effective use of public funds.

Charles has been undertaking an overhaul of the royal family’s finances since his mother’s death in 2022.

His heir, Prince William, the Prince of Wales, pays over $566,000 annual rent for a house in Windsor, Forest Lodge, the Audit Office said.

Meanwhile, UK authorities’ investigations into Mr Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson, the former ambassador to the United States, will likely take more than a year to complete, the chief prosecutor said.

“It is a case of some complexity and it would be wrong to focus on a single event or a single transaction,” the UK Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said.

“I really don’t think that anyone should expect an early resolution of the investigation.

“It would not be at all surprising if it took over a year, not because of any lack of urgency but because of the complexity and also the international dimension.”

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor and Mr Mandelson were separately arrested in February following the release of millions of documents by the US Department of Justice relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Neither have been charged with any criminal offence and both men have denied any wrongdoing, saying they regretted their association with Epstein.