Norman Baker is a longtime royal critic and a longtime royal-money watcher. I have no idea if Baker is actually a republican, but he certainly has no love for the ways in which the Windsors operate (with impunity). Well, Baker is on another tear. He’s previewing an upcoming parliamentary inquiry into royal real estate, specifically all of those “peppercorn rents” for various mansions, lodges, castles and palaces. The Mail surprisingly published extensive comments from Baker about which royal leases need to be examined and possibly thrown out. Hilariously, he talked at length about Prince William’s multiple forever homes.

Royal Author Norman Baker told the Daily Mail: ‘It is good that parliament, which generally does its best never to look into royal matters, has been forced by public opinion to examine the outrageous rental agreements which both ex-Prince Andrew and his brother Prince Edward have enjoyed – near-zero rents for gigantic mansions in the most charming surroundings of Windsor Great Park. As the profits from the Crown Estate go straight to the Treasury, it follows that applying a peppercorn rent rather than a market value means a loss to the taxpayer. We have been paying for these rich royals to live in luxury effectively rent-free.’

‘I think Beatrice and Eugenie would be wise to leave their properties in St James’s Palace and Kensington Palace before people (such as you and me!) start asking too many questions. Non-working royals should never benefit from grace-and-favour or peppercorn rent arrangements.’

‘In the case of Prince Edward’s Bagshot Park residence – it has an incredible 120 rooms for his family to rattle around in,’ explained Norman. ‘And not content with his peppercorn rent for this, he and wife Sophie lease out the mansion’s stable block for an eye-watering £130,000 a year. Does he forward that money to the Crown Estate? I’ll give you one guess.’

‘Other royals, such as the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Duke and Duchess of Kent have benefited from so-called grace-and-favour properties, a circumspect way of saying they get where they live rent-free. We have to hope that that Public Accounts committee will do its job properly and end the scandal of rich royals living in luxury at little or no cost to them – but considerable cost to you and me.’

Royal Author Norman Baker says Prince William has learned from the mistakes of more distant royals on how badly dubious rent deals can present to the public – at least when it comes to their main family home, Forest Lodge, in Great Windsor Park.

He says: ‘William has seen the warning signs and announced he will pay a market rent for their sumptuous new home, Forest Lodge, built in the 1770s and nestling inside a new and rather ugly perimeter fence some 2.3 miles long. But what of his other properties? For the prince who is championing the needs of the homeless has six other properties he and Kate can stay in.’

‘There is the modest-sounding but far from modest 20-room Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace in London, Anmer Hall in Sandringham, Restomel Manor in Lostwithiel, Tamarisk House on the Isles of Scilly, Tam-Na-Ghar on the Balmoral estate, and a royal retreat in Llandovery in Carmathenshire.’

While Kensington Palace remains the couple’s official London residence, Forest Lodge is only just over an hour’s drive from the capital, which largely renders the residence filed under ‘occasional use’ for the family. The Wales appear to favour ten-bedroom Anmer Hall to fully escape London life; the Georgian house on the royal Sandringham Estate was gifted to the couple by the late Queen Elizabeth and remains their country residence.

Beyond occasional holidays, the Wales are rarely at the other properties in Prince William’s portfolio: Restomel Manor, Tamarisk House, Tam-Na-Ghar and the royal property in Llandovery, Carmathenshire. And the Prince of Wales is unlikely to be worried by the lack of use… because, says Baker, he’s probably not covering the rent for at least some of them.

Baker explains: ‘It is believed that no rent is paid on Apartment 1A or Tam-Na-Ghar out of the pockets of William and Kate. In addition, it is likely that the properties which sit within the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster will be classified as business expenses and so reduce the taxation bills for Charles and William.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I looked up some of the additional homes cited here, and I think Baker is playing a little bit fast and loose – apparently, Restomel Manor is just a Duchy of Cornwall rental, available to anyone. Same with Tamarisk House, it’s a vacation rental owned by the duchy. Those are not really William & Kate’s homes per se, they’re just duchy-owned. But it’s remarkable to realize that they live completely rent-free at Anmer Hall and Kensington Palace, but still choose to spend most of their time at Forest Lodge, which they are “paying” for. Anyway, Baker should stick to critiquing the younger royals, because no one is really going to get behind evicting the Gloucesters or the Kents at this point. But evicting Edward and Sophie from Bagshot Park might be a good idea!

Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace.