A National Audit Office report published this week has placed the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh at the centre of a broader parliamentary inquiry into royal property arrangements — and raised questions the institution will need to answer clearly.
The National Audit Office does not deal in drama. It deals in numbers. This week’s report on Crown Estate properties occupied by members of the Royal Family contained both — and the numbers are now before the Public Accounts Committee.
The headline findings are these. Seven members of the Royal Family occupy five Crown Estate properties under lease arrangements that vary considerably in their terms. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh hold a 150-year lease on Bagshot Park — a Grade II listed 120-room mansion on a 51-acre estate in Surrey — under an agreement signed in 2007 through Edward’s company, Eclipse Nominees Limited. Under that arrangement, the Duke paid a £5 million upfront premium in exchange for a nominal peppercorn rent thereafter. The estate, valued at approximately £30 million, is currently assessed as attracting rent at 63 per cent of its 2026 market valuation — itself a 34 per cent increase since 2020.
The report also confirmed that the Edinburghs previously generated rental income by subletting a converted stable block on the estate. The stables were rented to the Royal Collection Trust, the registered charity responsible for managing the Royal Collection, until approximately 2020. Sources close to the couple described the arrangement as temporary and not unusual, noting that the Royal Household itself charges the same charity rent for office space elsewhere. The lease terms for Bagshot Park explicitly permit subletting. The arrangement was legal. The question being asked — by the Public Accounts Committee and by the public — is whether legal and appropriate are the same thing.
The wider context of the NAO report is important. Its publication was triggered primarily by scrutiny of a separate set of arrangements involving the Duke of York, whose subletting of cottages at Royal Lodge — while himself paying peppercorn rent on the property — was found to have continued until April 2026. The NAO did not disclose the sums involved in that arrangement. The Public Accounts Committee is expected to address it during oral evidence sessions later this year.
The report also found that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have not personally paid rent on their royal homes for nearly two decades — costs covered first by the late Queen Elizabeth II and more recently by King Charles III. In a separate development, King Charles has moved to address this: new valuations carried out in 2026 show he is now paying 64 per cent and 68 per cent of updated market valuations for the two princesses’ residences.
Buckingham Palace issued a statement welcoming the NAO report, describing it as consistent with the Royal Household’s commitment to transparency. The Crown Estate confirmed that all leases were agreed in line with independent professional advice and open market valuations.
The Public Accounts Committee is currently collecting written evidence. Oral sessions are expected throughout 2026. Whether the inquiry produces recommendations — and whether those recommendations change how Crown Estate properties are managed for royal occupants — remains to be seen.
The institution has welcomed scrutiny. Now it must demonstrate that it can withstand it.
The palace says nothing. Which tells you everything.
Marcus Webb is Crown & Court’s Royal News Correspondent. Fleet Street trained, with twenty years covering the British royal family, he has stood outside more palaces in the rain than he cares to count.
“The palace says nothing. Which tells you everything.”
