On Thursday, Britain’s National Audit Office released a report about royal residences and how much it costs the British taxpayer to lavishly house all of these royals and royal-adjacents. There are several storylines, but one of the biggest and loudest is that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have never paid any kind of rent on their London homes. Since both women were in their early 20s, they’ve had London homes – Eugenie in Ivy Cottage (in the Kensington Palace complex) and Beatrice in a St. James’s Palace apartment. All of this time, and neither of them has paid a dime.
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have been living in royal palaces for free with the King personally paying their rent for years – despite carrying out no royal duties. Princess Eugenie, 36, lives at Ivy Cottage in Kensington Palace and Princess Beatrice, 37, has an apartment in St James’s Palace.
A report by public spending watchdog the National Audit Office unearthed some of the cosy deals that working – and non-working – royals have benefited from when it comes to housing. The findings also revealed that both princesses also benefited from reduced rental rates from old market valuations. Neither of them are a working royal and neither receives funding through the Sovereign Grant, which is paid from Crown Estate profits.
Instead, their rent is covered entirely by Charles through the Privy Purse, funded by income from the Duchy of Lancaster.
Until this year, Eugenie’s rent was based on a 2018 valuation, while Beatrice’s was based on a 2020 valuation.
The Royalist had some additional details – Beatrice’s rent for her four-bedroom SJP apartment was apparently held at £20K a year, which was entirely paid for by the monarch via the Duchy of Lancaster. Same with Eugenie and Ivy Cottage, although those KP cottages are almost always “rent-free” – they’re given out as “grace-and-favor” homes to senior staff and minor royals. I don’t believe Prince Harry paid any rent on Nottingham Cottage either. It feels like Beatrice’s SJP apartment is more egregious, especially because that apartment is apparently quite spacious. While it’s a “scandal” that Beatrice and Eugenie were living rent-free – or that Charles was “paying” their meager rent himself – it’s also a huge scandal that there are so many empty royal apartments and cottages in London. Like… I don’t think most people actually care that Beatrice and Eugenie have homes on royal property, it’s that they’re not really paying for those homes.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220329- Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey -PICTURED: Princess Beatrice, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing Featuring: Princess Beatrice, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Eugenie, Jack Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 29 Mar 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com **North America Rights Only**
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- Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie The State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen, Service, Westminster Abbey, London, UK – 19 Sep 2022,Image: 724168922, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock / Avalon
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- Princess Beatrice and Eugenie follow the funeral procession of Queen Elizabeth II as it makes its way along the Mall, London, UK on September 19, 2022,Image: 724183880, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw / Avalon
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- 19/09/2022. London, United Kingdom. Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice at the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London.,Image: 724204294, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Licenced to i-Images Picture Agency. All Rights Reserved. UK copyright law applies to all print & online publications. i-Images space rates apply to all images. Magazines contact agency for fees before use. Images Single use only then repro fees apply. Info@i-images.co Tel: 07860204379, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stephen Lock / i-Images / Avalon
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- USA Rights Only – Ascot, UK -20190618- Royal Ascot Day One Ascot Racecourse. -PICTURED: Princess Eugenie of York, Princess Beatrice of York -PHOTO by: Doug Peters/PA Images/INSTARimages.com -43600999.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Princess Eugenie of York, Princess Beatrice of York Where: Ascot, England, United Kingdom When: 18 Jun 2019 Credit: Doug Peters/PA Images/INSTARimages.com **USA Rights Only**
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- Platinum Jubilee Reception hosted by the Lord Mayor of London at Gulidhall Featuring: Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice Where: London, United Kingdom When: 03 Jun 2022 Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UK**
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- North America Rights Only, London, England – 20220603- National Service of Thanksgiving On Day Two Of The Platinum Jubilee Celebrations -PICTURED: Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com -67259481 Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing Featuring: Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 03 Jun 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com **North America Rights Only**
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- The Sovereign’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, London Featuring: Princess Beatrice (left) and Princess Eugenie Where: London, United Kingdom When: 21 May 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Sarah, Duchess of York with her daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie during a visit to the Teenage Cancer Trust unit at University College Hospital, London Featuring: Princess Eugenie, Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Beatrice Where: London, United Kingdom When: 23 Apr 2025 Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
William doesn’t pay for KP 1A, which is 20 rooms. He has an income of $20m a year. They’re deflecting. IDGAF about the York princesses having free lodging because the only reason the media is talking about it is so that we don’t talk about William.
We can talk about multiple things, lol. the same report also included details about W&K’s Forest Lodge home.
Yes, *we* can talk about multiple things and *we* do. That doesn’t change the fact that the British press is using the Yorks to distract from William. I’m tired of them winning the PR game. If we don’t call it out, it will never change.
True, but as Kaiser points out in the other post, the media IS talking about the Wales in this instance. So that’s something at least.
I just think sometimes we say “this is just a distraction from the Wales” and it overlooks or ignores other problems or issues. Like for me, I think the press should absolutely be talking about Beatrice having an apt in SJP for 20k a year.
BUT they should also be talking about the crown estate paying 400k in renovations for Forest Lodge and things along those lines and all the other shadiness from the Wales. I wish the press would cover all of the issues.
Why should they pay anything lol 😆 they don’t have the UK 🇬🇧 media harassing them about their finances and lifestyle 😳
Eh, so Charles pays their rent, I can’t get upset at that if that’s what he wants to do…. Stupid that he demoted them to non-working though. You’d think if he’s paying for them he’d want them to show up at events and fill in some of the gaps left by his own offspring.
Jennie Bond made the point that if the Duchy of Lancaster were returned to the public then it would be taxpayers, not KFC, who would be paying B&E’s rents. I think that point puts into context the greedy entitlement of the Windsors.
Hang on. Charles was paying Beatrice and Eugene’s rent for years, but he told Harry he had no money for Meghan? WTH?
It’s being paid by the monarch. When Charles made that statement to Harry, Elizabeth was paying the rent for the Yorks.
KFC, as PoW, was receiving an income from the Duchy of Cornwall. The Duchy was bringing in about 20 million pounds per year for him. Of course with that level of income there was no way he could spend even a penny on M.
@Sure, I’m only correcting the timeline, not defending Charles in regards to Meghan.
Is this the same Charles who told Harry that Meghan would have to go back to work?
he told harry he couldn’t even afford to feed meghan; that he couldn’t increase harry’s food allowance.
Taken in context, this is a nothing burger. They are the late Queen’s grandchildren. Their uncle is King and as a result of his inheritance and position has a huge fortune and a bunch of property. So what if they are living on the family dime? If they are “non working” Royals, it’s because that’s how the King wants it. It’s not like William works very hard or effectively for his multiple huge houses.
I agree with the others. This feels like deflection.
It is not the “family dime.” It is income from public properties (the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall) owned by taxpayers and managed by the Crown Estate. The BRF is only supposed to have use of the income. They do not own the underlying assets – the public does
Hard agree. W&K have 4/5 homes (that we know of) and they want to hang these two out to dry because their uncle (and grandmother before) cover their costs for one address out of private funds?
Yes, clearly there are bigger questions about how that wealth came to be, etc. However, if we accept monarchy and a monarch’s private wealth – as opposed to the sovereign grant – then surely this is something of nothing?
The issue isn’t that the king pays their rent – so what, the rent is being paid regardless of the source – the issue is the amount of rent. 20k a YEAR for a 4 BEDROOM apartment in St. James Palace?!?!!?!? that’s less than 2k a month for rent in one of the priciest cities in the world for a four bedroom apartment. and why does Beatrice need a 4 bedroom apartment anyway? Now she has kids but when she started living there she didnt – and by that point, everyone knew she wasnt going to be a working royal.
but they shoved harry into Nott cott and were surprised when he asked for something else when Meghan was pregnant.
But also – who owns SJP? Where does that rent go? the website says its part of the Royal Collection Trust, so do they get the money, or another entity/ Basically who is being cheated out of money bc the York girls pay significantly below market rent?
I’m surprised that so many on here are just like “meh, this is a nothing burger.” All of these things are part of the larger grift that this family does. Each thing – Beatrice paying a reduced rent – may not be a big deal on its own, but it adds up to a wealthy family staying wealthy by taking advantage of a lack of transparency.
I’m surprised too, @Becks1 – I would have thought this report would have provoked outrage.
And to your question, “who is being cheated out of money…” the safe bet as always with the BRF is the UK taxpayer.
Who is being cheated out of money because the BRF arbitrarily decided to define heli and private jet travel among “senior royal residences” to be an expense, and therefore taken off the top of their “private” income from Royal Duchies? The UK taxpayer.
Who is being cheated out of money because William arbitrarily decides how much tax he will pay on his Duchy income (and Charles, to be fair…and QEII before him for Lancaster; William is just the least transparent about it. The Times or the Telegraph, I forget which, reporting what tax William was “likely” to have paid, not what he actually paid? Please). The UK taxpayer again is the one cheated out of money.
Who is being cheated out of money for the (estimate by Republic UK, IIRC) north of 300 million pound YEARLY security bill for the royals, regardless of threat assessment (as we found out thanks to Harry)? The UK taxpayer.
And on and on it goes…
Agreed – you wouldn’t get even a bog standard 4-bed flat in that postcode for less than £8,000 per month. For something of the standard of a St James Palace apartment, you’d easily be paying £21,000-32,000 per MONTH. It’s ludicrous. And it goes without saying that what Charles is paying for those apartments is just chicken feed.
Helpful links in the press release including a summary and the full report. FYI, the “Privy Purse” is a name for the Duchy of Lancaster income, against which the monarch charges expenses. This is separate from the Sovereign Grant again, to which, various “working royals” charge expenses.
https://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/royal-family-property-arrangements-vary-according-to-requirements-and-provider/
Two separate issues. Seems both sisters pay rent, albeit not market. The fact that the king pays instead of themselves is not our business. Also was true with QE2 paying. It is similar to any trust fund babies, except instead of a trust, the monarch provides the cash. The sovereign left everything to the next sovereign assuming he would be the money source for the rest of the family and therefore avoid estate taxes. Also, both sisters used to share the SJP apartment until they married. The sovereign did the same thing for the Kent’s,Glousters, and other relatives. When she agreed to pay the rent for them, it was widely covered in the media. No secret here, so give the York sisters a break here.
I don’t have a problem with the York princesses living in homes paid by the King. I imagine that this is something that their father might have negotiated for leaving his home despite having a lease and keeping his mouth shut for whatever he knows.
Eh. Unless there’s a bunch of people that are vying to live in St James’s Palace that can afford market rent, or on the grounds of Kensington Palace, this just seems like a look squirrel moment.
This is one of the perks of being the monarch, or related to the monarch. They have tons of property and you get to stay there for free. Unless they plan to make all of Kensington Palace open to the public, or all of St. James Palace available for rent, feels like this story is to make them look bad while ignoring the significantly different largesse that other royals, who are ” working” get.
They have actually rented out apartments in St James Palace to the public – at £20,000 per month (and this was back in 2015). Obviously I imagine they’d be carefully vetted, and they’d have to be super rich, but there’s plenty of those sort of people in London.
I have to play devil’s advocate here, because, I mean, really, what did the average tabloid reader imagine those vast empty palaces were *for* if not for housing members of the monarch’s family and staff? I’d be willing to bet this is a jealous staffer who was underpaid for decades and had his eye on that apartment. I mean. The whole thing reeks of petty point scoring.
The crown estate is a separate issue in contrast to the royal residences. But realistically, members of the royal family were *expected* to live in royal residences, that’s kind of the point.
As Norman Baker has resplendently chronicled, the Crown Estate is highly problematic and I think they’re heading off that story with these limited hangouts scapegoating minor royals, as they would label them.
There actually is a huge difference between the Sovereign Grant — which is 25% of the revenue accruing to the Crown Estate IIRC — and the erstwhile Civil List.
The Civil List was 100% transparent. It was money in exchange for public duties. You could read exactly how much each member of the “working” royal family was paid by Parliament. And the stipends had to be renewed each year. And Parliament held the purse strings.
The Sovereign Grant is a lump sum. It goes directly to Charles III. He funds his family as he sees fit. So the definition of a “working” royal eligible for funding is whatever Charles says it is. He can cut off anyone like Harry. Equally, he can give that money to Camilla’s kids, for whom he has already established trusts.
The sum itself is not subject to annual or even once-a-decade renegotiation. It is remitted in perpetuity as a fixed proportion of Crown Estate revenues to the monarch, regardless of how much or how little he or she “works.”
I think William has grasped this and that is why he is exhibiting all the signs of DGAF. Like, fire me, I dare ya.
The Civil List provided less money, but a lot more transparency and accountability than the Sovereign Grant.
And that’s *before* you get into the weeds, like the fact that George Osborne, the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer who negotiated this sweetheart deal, inked the paper whilst gutting funding for local councils and gleefully imposing “austerity” on the taxpayer so he could bail out the banks. It’s genuinely the stuff of revolution.
But this is how primogeniture is supposed to work! The eldest inherits it all and is then supposed to support the family. Everything is a conspiracy if you don’t know how things actually work.
It looks like what needs to happen is to look at the royal residences and consolidate in line with the smaller number of family members. How much space is actually needed and figure out what to do with the rest. And be sure to consider that there will be William’s three kids to be housed.
But the British Royal Family isn’t like any other aristocratic family in the UK – they’re supposed to be superior. Everything for them is bespoke, tailor-made and (often) non-transparent. To your points:
1) Male primogeniture was eliminated, at the time it was said for Charlotte to make her equal with her brothers unlike Anne, via Letters Patent from QEII. So primogeniture as a concept is only applicable to the BRF when they say it is, how they say it is, etc. Not so for the rest of the UK aristocracy where it works “as it is supposed to work”, hence the only legal rights belong to male heirs unless there is something specific in the title or estate that says otherwise. See: the lawsuits filed by female members of the UK aristocracy trying to overturn male primogeniture. It doesn’t apply to the BRF
2) It is not seeing a “conspiracy” or having ignorance of “how things work” to point out that the monarch of the BRF having complete discretion over properties, how much rent is charged and who gets to live there is wrong, because it cheats the UK taxpayer out of income they would otherwise have to….heat homes? Eat regularly? Have a place to live that doesn’t have mold or other dangerous conditions?
3) IMO it’s long past the point for cosmetic changes like consolidating residences and squeezing some efficiencies here and there, or making sure that the UK taxpayer pays for William’s children regardless of whether or not they become “working royals” but that’s for the UK taxpayer to say. Because they’re paying for it!
Harry as a senior royal lived at humble Nott Cottage where Oprah said “No one will believe it” and non-working royal Beatrice has a 4 bedroom apartment comped for her at St James Palace? Ugh, this family.
Well, I’d love to have that low of rent for an apartment in London. So what happens now? Will the sisters get the boot? Or will the rent get raised? If it’s raised to market-rent, they likely can’t afford it. So then who’s going to move in and pay market-rent? Who would be allowed into those spaces as a renter? Curious to see what if anything happens. Maybe they want the sisters out so those spaces can belong to the Wales kids one day bc there has to be a plan for that right? And if that was the case, they’re keeping that rent low.
I’m thinking for Wales kids – one will get Anmer, one will get Forest Lodge and one will Royal Lodge. Or one will get Adelaide. George may get Clarence House for his london residence.
(I dont believe for one hot minute that W&K will stay at Forest Lodge when he’s king.)
As for SJP – I think the public can rent there if they pass a security check and can pay the rent. For some reason I think Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have an apartment there. I bet they don’t pay 20k a year though.
Except I agree that the Wales kids will get those homes but also that they’ll get a London space as well😂 so why not these? There’s KP but….someone might be using that fairly often. Granted, there’s so many spaces available really.
All I can think about this is the difference treatment between the Yorks sisters and Harry and Meghan. Yes, Harry didn’t pay rent for Nottingham Cottage but he was made to pay rent for Frogmore Cottage and then he was evicted.
And pressured by the press to repay the renovations.
This. And Harry and Meghan were “working royals” and they weren’t even getting these sweetheart deals that the non-working York sisters have. How does that make sense considering all that is said about being a “working royal.” Not saying I agree with these sweetheart deals at all but just to the hypocrisy.
This is the big takeaway that the British media is ignoring. Harry and Meghan should have, at the very, had the same arrangement as Eugiene and Beatrice, Frogmore House is no different then the properties they aren’t paying rent for. Actually H&M as working royals should have a free residence just like all the other “working” royals
If the monarch can afford to pay the rents of his nearest and dearest then maybe he should be asked to pay for his own security. Why should taxpayers fund someone so wealthy that they can afford to pay their relatives’ rents.
I have no issue with Charles paying Beatrice and Eugenie’s rent. If that’s what he wants to do, that’s what he wants to do. I think QEII also paid their rent as well. What I don’t understand is why did Harry and Meghan have to pay rent on Frogmore Cottage when everyone else didn’t pay a single dime? They were always treated differently from the moment they got engaged.
I know William and Kate pay rent on Forest Lodge, that’s been announced to the public as it’s considered their main residence now. But prior to that, I think they paid absolutely nothing for Adelaide Cottage, their apartment in Kensington Palace, the house in Norfolk etc. And I think they still don’t pay rent on all their other properties since they don’t own them.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens when William becomes king and if he’ll continue to foot the bill for his cousins. My guess is, given his position on Prince Andrew, probably not.
AFAIK, the MP Baker (author: And, what do you do?), has been making requests regarding royal properties. The apartment in St. James Palace has been rented for £1.600 per month.
He is looking into further properties and also mentioned Bagshot. It would be interesting if he would check out Anne’s pad. He did mention in his book that it was bought mit taxpayer’s money.
H & M paid market rent for Frogmore Cottage and were evicted.