Mounting calls for 'embarrassing' Prince Andrew to hand back keys to Royal Lodge after 'not paying rent in 22 years'

Pressure continues to mount on the royal after his close ties to ex-billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein continued to surface, with calls from the public and MPs alike to step back from his taxpayer-funded life.

Weighing in on the debate, Conservative MP and Shadow Home Secretary Robert Jenrick insisted that Prince Andrew has embarrassed the royal family and should move out of the lodge.

Labelling the royal "embarrassing", he said that it was “about time” the royal “took himself off to live in private”, adding that he believed “the public are sick of him”.

It comes just days after Andrew voluntarily gave up his titles amid mounting public pressure over his links to the financier.

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Last night it emerged that the former Duke of York has paid a peppercorn rent for his grace-and-favour mansion since taking up residency at the Windsor pad in 2003.

The rental agreement demands "one peppercorn paid a year if demanded" for rent, with estimates suggesting the market rate on the property could be in the region of £260,000 a year.

According to The Times, a copy of the leasehold agreement for the sprawling 30-room estate shows that after paying for the lease after the passing of the Queen Mother in 2003, he has not paid any more for the Lodge.

In line with Jenrick's comments, senior Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier alluded to the fact that parliamentary committees could probe the Crown Estate’s handling of such living arrangements.

It comes as Tina Brown, a friend of the late Princess Diana and former editor-in-chief of Tatler and Vanity Fair, claimed that Prince William and Kate "can't abide" Andrew.

She suggested that the royals want him to "disappear".

Writing on her Substack, Ms Brown labelled Andrew the "Duke of Dross".

She added that William and Kate must be wondering: "How do you disappear a 6-foot-tall, 190-pound, 65-year-old man in robust good health who has an iron-clad contract to live in the Queen Mother’s former mansion, a short neigh from Windsor Castle and just four miles from the new “forever” home of Prince William and Kate, who can’t abide him?"

In light of the scandal around his association with Jeffrey Epstein and the allegations of sexual abuse made against him by the late Virginia Giuffre, members of the Royal Family are reportedly keen to remove Andrew from the Lodge.

The document is also said to state that the Crown Estate, which manages royal properties and palaces for the taxpayer, must pay more than £500,000 to force Prince Andrew to leave the property.

The Prince is facing a swathe of new allegations in regards to Ms Giuffre, who died from suicide aged 41 earlier this year.

Andrew voluntarily gave up his titles last week, but he will continue to hold them officially until they are removed by an Act of Parliament.

MPs are now advocating for a change in the law to allow titled to be removed, with the SNP warning that new legislation must be brought forward without "any excuses and any further delay".

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: "The public knows this is the right thing to do - and even more importantly, the victims at the heart of the Epstein scandal know that it's the right thing to do.

"Those implicated in the Epstein scandal have been able to escape justice because they have hidden behind their power and privilege."

In her posthumously-released memoir, Ms Giuffre wrote about her three alleged sexual encounters with Prince Andrew – resurfacing claims of an underage orgy and that the royal believed having sex with her was his "birthright".

In her memoir Nobody’s Girl, which is due to be released on Tuesday, Ms Giuffre said British socialite-turned-sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell told her "just like Cinderella, I was going to meet a handsome prince" ahead of the first alleged incident in March 2001.

The book reads: “It was going to be a special day, she said.

“Just like Cinderella, I was going to meet a handsome prince!

“Her old friend Prince Andrew would be dining with us that night, she said, and we had lots to do to get me ready.”

After repeating claims that she attended Tramp nightclub with the prince where he “sweated profusely”, Ms Giuffre went on to allege Andrew had sex with her at Maxwell’s London home.

Ms Giuffre said: "'Guess Jenna’s age', she urged the prince, after she introduced me.

"The Duke of York, who was then 41, guessed correctly: 17.

"My daughters are just a little younger than you,' he told me, explaining his accuracy."

Ms Giuffre said she remembered running for her "Kodak FunSaver" camera to snap the now infamous picture of her with Andrew – adding that "my mom would never forgive me if I met someone as famous as Prince Andrew and didn’t pose for a picture."

She continued: “He was friendly enough, but still entitled - as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright.

“I took him first to a bathroom, where I drew him a hot bath.

“We disrobed and got in the tub, but we didn't stay there long because the prince was eager to get to the bed.

“He was particularly attentive to my feet, caressing my toes and licking my arches."

Going on to speak about the alleged sexual encounter, Ms Giuffre said: "He seemed in a rush to have intercourse.

"Afterward, he said thank you in his clipped British accent.

"In my memory, the whole thing lasted less than half an hour.

Ms Giuffre added: “The next morning, it was clear that Maxwell had conferred with her royal chum because she told me: ‘You did well. The prince had fun'."

Her memoir went on to say Epstein gave her 15,000 US dollars “for servicing the man the tabloids called 'Randy Andy'— a lot of money”.

Moving on to her second alleged sexual encounter with the prince at Epstein's New York home around a month later, Ms Giuffre resurfaced allegations that Andrew was presented with a puppet of himself by Maxwell and allegedly put his hand on the breast of another accuser, Johanna Sjoberg.

Ms Giuffre said: “On this night, which was probably around April 2001, Epstein greeted Prince Andrew and brought him to the living room, where Maxwell and I were sitting.

"Another one of their victims, Johanna Sjoberg, arrived soon afterward.

"As always when the prince was around, Maxwell was being a saucy flirt.

"She told Sjoberg to come with her to a closet, where she pulled out a puppet with a little tag on it that said 'Prince Andrew.'

"Maxwell then announced to the prince that she’d purchased him a joke gift, a puppet that looked just like him.

"She made a big show of giving it to him, then suggested we pose for a photo with it."

Ms Giuffre said she saw “symbolism” in the use of a puppet, adding: "Johanna and I were Maxwell and Epstein’s puppets, and they were pulling the strings."

Her memoir continued: “The prince and I sat down next to each other on the couch, and Maxwell put the puppet in my lap, positioning one of its hands on one of my breasts.

“Then she put Sjoberg on the prince’s lap, and the prince put his hand on Sjoberg’s breast.“The symbolism was impossible to ignore.

“Johanna and I were Maxwell and Epstein’s puppets, and they were pulling the strings.

“Later they sent me to a bedroom, where I had sex with the prince for a second time."

Ms Giuffre also once again claimed Andrew had participated in an orgy with “approximately eight other young girls” on Epstein’s Caribbean island, Little St James, also referred to as Little Saint Jeff’s by those who knew Epstein.

She repeated allegations made in a sworn declaration in 2015 in which she said all girls seemed to be “under the age of 18”.

Her memoir said: “I don’t know exactly when I had sex with Prince Andrew for the third time, but I do know the location: Little Saint Jeff’s.

“I also know that it was not just the two of us this time; it was an orgy.

“‘I was around eighteen’, I said in a sworn declaration in 2015.

“Epstein, Andy, and approximately eight other young girls, and I had sex together.

“The other girls all seemed and appeared to be under the age of 18, and didn’t really speak English.

The titles and honours Andrew will no longer use include his wedding day titles – Duke of York, the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, his knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and his Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

The Government has indicated that it would not introduce any legislation to strip Andrew of his titles unless the King wanted to.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Today: “We would be guided by the royal family in this and I imagine the royal family would want Parliament to continue to dedicate our time to our wider legislative programme, but we will be guided by the monarch.

“It’s why we do support the statement that was issued and the action that has been taken. But of course, Prince Andrew holds the title of prince because he is the son of a monarch, and that’s the situation that we have.”

On Sunday, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “I think the royal family have said that they didn’t want to take up parliamentary time with this; there are lots of other things that parliament is discussing, I think it’s right he’s given up his title.”

Andrew strenuously denies all the allegations made by Ms Giuffre.