Prince Edward Paid ‘Market Value’ While Prince Andrew Lives Rent-Free: Report

Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, paid the market rate for his royal residence, Bagshot Park, while his brother Prince Andrew didn’t pay rent on the 30-room Royal Lodge for two decades, according to a report.

A previous National Audit Office (NAO) report obtained by PEOPLE stated that Bagshot Park in Surrey, England — where Prince Edward still lives with his wife, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh — was leased to the royals in March 1998. 

Per The Times, Edward had to pay a “market value” for the Surrey property until at least 2007, while his brother, Andrew, never did. However, after Edward’s lease was renewed that year, key details were redacted on the Land Registry, so it’s no longer known if the royal has continued to pay market rent through the years.

According to the NAO document obtained by PEOPLE, the Crown Estate let the property to Edward, the then-Earl of Wessex, “after detailed negotiations.”

He was initially told he could rent the royal residence “for a period of 50 years with an initial annual rental of £5,000” (around $6,600) prior to refurbishment works being completed and £90,000 (around $118,000) per year thereafter.

The report noted that the rent was subject to review every 15 years, adding, “The agreed annual rent for the property is consistent with the estimate provided by The Crown Estate’s independent advisors in respect of residential use and the land area included in the lease agreement.”

Edward is believed to have extended the lease to 150 years for around $6.6 million in 2007; however, further details aren’t known, per The Times.

Bagshot Park — which occupies nearly 52 acres within the designated area of Windsor Great Park — was previously leased to the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence, with it being used to house the Army Chaplains Department, according to the NAO document.

It was handed back to the Crown Estate in 1996.

As part of his lease agreement, Edward was required to complete “substantial refurbishment works within the first two years,” the document stated. 

The royal ended up paying £1.36 million (around $1.8 million) to help with the works, while The Crown Estate covered the remainder of the ­£3 million (around $3.9 million) refurbishment costs, The Times reported.

Buckingham Palace and the Crown Estate declined to comment on Edward’s lease details when contacted by PEOPLE.

The resurfaced details come after The Times reported on Oct. 21 that Prince Andrew had not paid rent on his Windsor mansion for over 20 years. Earlier reports had suggested that the royal paid $1.3 million for the lease and contributed approximately $10 million for refurbishments in 2005.

Six days later, there were reports suggesting the disgraced royal had agreed to exit the Royal Lodge, with Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Castle estate — the former home of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry — at the top of the list for his likely next residence, PEOPLE previously reported.

Under the deal, Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who has been living alongside him at the massive mansion in Windsor Great Park despite their 1996 divorce, could move into Adelaide Cottage, which Prince William and Kate Middleton are about to vacate. The proposed move was reported in The Sun newspaper.

Ahead of the reports, there had been days of intense negotiations over demands that Prince Andrew leave Royal Lodge, where he has been living since 2003.

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Andrew has been under intense pressure to move from the residence, which was heightened when The Times published a redacted version of his lease, showing that he was entitled to live at the property on a peppercorn rent, after he paid around $10.6 million for the lease and the refurbishments that were then carried out.

A “peppercorn rent” is a term referring to a very small amount of rent, sometimes as small as a single peppercorn.

As previously reported by PEOPLE, King Charles and his team proposed Andrew leave the Royal Lodge more than a year ago. When the prince dug in his heels, citing the long-term lease that lasts until 2078, it was dubbed by some insiders as the “siege of Royal Lodge.”

Andrew stepped back from his public royal role in 2019, following his bombshell BBC interview in which he discussed his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this month, he announced that he would be discontinuing the use of his royal titles and honors amid the ongoing controversy.