Prince Andrew ought to face MPs over Royal Lodge lease, says Davey

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/4c46/live/482ca050-af3f-11f0-a743-017a38be2260.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/4c46/live/482ca050-af3f-11f0-a743-017a38be2260.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4c46/live/482ca050-af3f-11f0-a743-017a38be2260.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/4c46/live/482ca050-af3f-11f0-a743-017a38be2260.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/4c46/live/482ca050-af3f-11f0-a743-017a38be2260.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/4c46/live/482ca050-af3f-11f0-a743-017a38be2260.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4c46/live/482ca050-af3f-11f0-a743-017a38be2260.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4c46/live/482ca050-af3f-11f0-a743-017a38be2260.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="AFP via Getty Images A headshot of Prince Andrew who looks to the right of the camera. The background is blurred" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> AFP by way of Getty Photos Prince Andrew ought to be referred to as in entrance of MPs to present proof about his lease of Royal Lodge, Liberal Democrat chief Sir Ed Davey has stated.

It follows requires higher transparency into royal funds and the independently-run Crown Property, which leased Andrew his mansion in Windsor.

Sir Ed referred to as for a choose committee inquiry to "correctly scrutinise" the Crown Property throughout Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) within the Commons, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer replying that it was necessary there was correct scrutiny of all Crown properties.

Buckingham Palace has been contacted for remark.

Whereas there's nothing stopping a Home of Commons committee from inviting Prince Andrew to present proof, an look in such a setting by a member of the Royal Household can be unprecedented. It's unclear whether or not the committee would have the ability to compel him to take action.

In a written request to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) - which scrutinises public spending - Sir Ed stated the proposed inquiry ought to take proof from "everybody concerned" in Andrew's housing association.

"The general public are understandably asking whether or not that is an applicable association by the Crown Property," he stated.

A PAC spokesperson instructed it might not launch a direct inquiry, saying its programme was "at present full up till the brand new yr".

They added that the Nationwide Audit Workplace would take a look at the Crown Property's annual report within the subsequent monetary yr, "as a part of its regular programme of labor".

Talking to BBC Newsnight on Wednesday, Sarah Olney, a Liberal Democrat MP and a member of the PAC, stated the "query in regards to the hire paid" was "completely a respectable course of inquiry for the PAC to ask if that is the perfect deal for taxpayers".

She added: "We have now the ability if we want to summon Prince Andrew to return and provides proof to us in order that we are able to discover out extra about that."

There was elevated deal with Prince Andrew - who had already stepped again as a working royal - after he relinquished his titles final week following rising strain over his hyperlinks with the late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Sir Ed's query got here after a document seen by BBC News confirmed the association for the Royal Lodge signifies that the prince has solely ever paid a token annual hire on property, and that it won't be required beneath his cope with the Crown Property.

The deal meant that, as an alternative of paying annual hire, Prince Andrew made massive lump sum funds upfront, together with for renovations.

In impact, these funds - which totalled about £8m - meant he was shopping for himself out of future hire obligations at some point of the 75-year lease.

A part of the deal was that if he left early within the lease he might reclaim a few of the cash he had paid upfront, with that quantity tapering down over time till 25 years - on the present price, it's about £186,000 for every remaining yr till 2028.

Former Crown Property commissioner Lord Curry advised BBC Radio 5 Reside's Matt Chorley the property can be "honour certain to honour that lease" and that any inquiry can be a "waste of money and time".

"There's nothing they will do in regards to the lease with out reneging on its phrases, and that might be inappropriate," he stated.

The Crown Property is a property enterprise owned by the monarch however run independently, with earnings from it going to the Treasury. The extent of revenue is used as a benchmark to calculate the funding given by the federal government to the Royal Family in the Sovereign Grant .

Baroness Margaret Hodge, who chaired the Public Accounts Committee between 2010 and 2015, stated the Royal Lodge association "seems to be like a rotten deal".

"The Royal Lodge is run by the Crown Property [which] is beneath an obligation to maximise the earnings it collects as a result of that goes to the taxpayer," she advised BBC Radio 4's As we speak programme on Wednesday.

She additionally made a name for higher transparency concerning royal funds usually.

"We do not know," she underlined, "there isn't any transparency - so inevitably we're sceptical and we ask questions".

"All we have got right here is one other particular concern which is an instance of a a lot a lot wider drawback which is that the royal funds are mired in secrecy and that lack of transparency related to these funds finally ends up with us asking all kinds of questions."

The Royal Household has three fundamental funding streams along with personal earnings.

The Sovereign Grant is funded by the taxpayer whereas the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall present earnings for the King and the Prince of Wales respectively.

Annual monetary statements from the Royal Household embrace particulars on the Sovereign Grant - which funds official duties, the upkeep of the Occupied Royal Palaces and extra just lately has funded the Buckingham Palace Reservicing Programme.

Separate experiences are revealed for the 2 duchies that are described on their respective web sites as personal estates.

Baroness Hodge stated: "There may be this muddy territory [...] in my opinion, they're public as a result of they got by the State to the Royal Household for the aim of sustaining themselves."

The Duchy of Cornwall's official web site stated the Prince of Wales pays earnings tax on this earnings - which isn't a requirement, however one thing he does voluntarily.

The King additionally voluntarily pays earnings tax on the Duchy of Lancaster.

The King ended monetary assist for Prince Andrew final yr as he confronted rising public scrutiny over his hyperlinks with convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The prince introduced he would cease utilizing his Duke of York title earlier this month – nevertheless York MP Rachael Maskell, who had the Labour whip suspended in July, is introducing a proposal to the Home of Commons on Wednesday for a brand new regulation which might allow the King to take away titles.

This proposal would give the King the ability to formally strip the prince of the dukedom.

The Removing of Titles Invoice was already launched in parliament in 2022 and would require the assist of presidency to grow to be regulation.

This week has additionally seen the publication of the posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre , who alleged that Prince Andrew had intercourse together with her at Ghislaine Maxwell's home when she was 17. Andrew has all the time denied the allegations.