Everything we know about Royal Lodge, Prince Andrew’s 30-room mansion in Windsor

Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park is the home of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. (Shutterstock via CNN Newsource)

As the scandal surrounding Prince Andrew continues to make headlines across the world, many are asking whether the disgraced royal will be able to continue living in Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion that has been his home since 2003.

But how much do we know about the sprawling property in Windsor Great Park that is home to Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and where their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, spent much of their teenage years?

Why does Andrew live in Royal Lodge?

The late Queen Elizabeth II granted Andrew, the third of her four children, the right to live in the lodge, which is officially owned by the Crown Estate. The prince paid £1 million for the property back in 2003, and under the terms of the 75-year lease, due to expire on June 15, 2078, he is expected to pay for any refurbishment work and the maintenance of the surrounding grounds.

He was also required upfront to pay £7.5 million (US$10 million) to cover necessary refurbishments that were completed in 2005, according to a National Audit Office report. According to the lease, signed on August 8, 2003, rent “if demanded” was only required to be “one peppercorn” per annum.

The property sits in an estate of 40 hectares (99 acres) and features a swimming pool, an aviary, six lodge cottages, a gardener’s cottage and accommodation for police protecting the royals to stay in.

It is situated within Windsor Great Park, close to Windsor Castle, Frogmore Cottage (where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex previously lived) and Forest Lodge, the Windsor residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Two centuries of royal residents

A house has stood on the site since at least the 1660s, although it has undergone considerable updates and renovations since then. Its first links with the royal family came in the early 19th century when George IV, then the prince regent, converted the rustic-styled cottage into a hunting lodge and then private retreat. By the mid-1820s it had become known as Royal Lodge.

After George died in 1830, much of the structure was pulled down by William IV and it was used as a “grace and favour” residence for most of the rest of the century.

The Royal Chapel was added to the site in 1865, but, though situated within the grounds of the lodge, it does not come under the current lease.

The property was rebuilt during the 1930s around a room remaining from George IV’s original cottage.

Prince Andrew’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, lived in the lodge as a child, moving there with her parents — then the Duke and Duchess of York — in 1932. The family remained at Royal Lodge until the duke and duchess were crowned four years later, following the abdication of Edward VIII.

Following her husband’s death in 1952 and the coronation of her daughter, Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother used the Royal Lodge as her Windsor residence until her death in 2002.

After his grandmother died, Prince Andrew approached the Crown Estate about acquiring the leasehold on the property. The property was not offered to the wider market because of its sensitive location in the heart of Windsor Great Park and the need for security, given its proximity to the Royal Chapel.

What changes has Andrew made?

The renovation work that Andrew carried out on the family property included internal alterations to the tiled ceiling, external repainting, new tarmac for the gate entrance and light fittings and cameras for outside the lodge, according to a planning application lodged with the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.

Earlier planning applications show that the local authorities granted permission to build a single-story property to accommodate police officers protecting the site in 1990, and permission was given for the construction of a conservatory in 2001.

Queen Elizabeth’s fairy-tale playhouse

Also in the grounds is Y Bwthyn Bach, which translates from Welsh as “little cottage.” The miniature thatched cottage was given by the people of Wales to the late Queen Elizabeth II on her sixth birthday and was where she and her sister, Princess Margaret, played as children — as did their children and grandchildren.

In a 2012 BBC documentary called “The Diamond Queen,” Princess Beatrice said she and her sister had been “lucky enough” to play there together with their cousins as children.

She described it as the “most glamourous Wendy house ever” and said that she spent about a year overseeing its renovation. This, she said, involved new wiring, new curtains and completely rethatching the cottage to give it a “bit of a spruce-up.”

Viewers got to see the princess take host Andrew Marr inside the miniature property, which was fully furnished and complete with furniture, crockery and glassware and a fridge from the 1930s.

In 2018, Prince Andrew and his former wife hosted the wedding celebrations for their younger daughter, Eugenie, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, at the lodge following the official ceremony at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

In 2020, Eugenie’s sister, Beatrice, tied the knot on the estate itself, marrying Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a small ceremony in the chapel while Covid-19 restrictions were in place.

By Lianne Kolirin and Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN