United Kingdom King Charles’ brother Andrew was arrested on Thursday (February 19, 2026), putting into the spotlight an imperative question: how did the formal royal fund his lifestyle after being forced out of public duties?
Once known as the Duke of York and a senior working member of the royal family, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lived for decades with access to prestigious residences, staff, travel and security without the need to hold conventional employment.
Andrew’s arrest has been on suspicion of misconduct in public office, linked to allegations that
he shared confidential government material with Jeffrey Epstein during his time as a trade envoy.
Last year, he was ordered to vacate Royal Lodge, the large residence he occupied for more than two decades near Windsor Castle, and was now reportedly living at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate.
How much is Andrew worth?
Public understanding of Andrew’s earnings has always been limited by the structure of royal finances in Britain. Laws governing the funding of the monarchy do not require full disclosure of how individual members of the royal family are supported by public or private funds.
Available reporting indicates that Andrew never held a conventional job in the private sector. His only clearly identified personal income is a pension linked to his service in the UK Royal Navy between 1979 and 2001, which has been reported to amount to about £20,000 a year.
In addition to this pension, Andrew received substantial payments during the period when he was a working member of the royal family. Between 1978 and 2010, he undertook official engagements on behalf of the monarchy.
Although precise annual figures were not routinely published, reporting has placed his yearly remuneration for royal duties at roughly £249,000.
An investigation by The Guardian found that over a period of around four decades, Andrew received close to £13 million for his work as a royal representative.
Andrew stepped down as a full-time working royal in 2019
amid controversy surrounding his relationship with Epstein. After this decision, he was cut off from the Sovereign Grant.
There have been repeated reports that Queen Elizabeth II drew on her private wealth to support Andrew after he withdrew from public duties. Media accounts have also said that King Charles III and the late queen provided Andrew with an annual allowance of about £1 million for a period following 2019, though this arrangement is reported to have ended last year.
There has also been speculation about possible trust income linked to Andrew’s grandmother, the Queen Mother.
Estimates of Andrew’s personal net worth remain uncertain. Celebrity Net Worth has reported that he is worth around £3.7 million, though such estimates rely on publicly available information and cannot be independently verified.
The Times reported that Andrew was able to raise the funds required to remain at Royal Lodge last year, with the move cleared by Sir Michael Stevens, the keeper of the privy purse, suggesting the money came from legitimate sources.
What assets does Andrew hold?
For more than 20 years, Andrew had lived at Royal Lodge, a 30-room residence located on the Windsor estate. In 2003, he signed a 75-year lease with the Crown Estate, which manages property holdings nominally owned by the monarch.
As part of that agreement, Andrew invested about £7.5 million in refurbishing the property.
Despite the scale of the residence, the annual rent
he paid was a nominal “peppercorn” amount, a symbolic sum often used in legal agreements to meet formal requirements rather than to reflect market value.
Royal Lodge has been a visible symbol of Andrew’s high-cost lifestyle. Over the years, reporting has suggested that he owned multiple luxury cars and high-value watches, including at least one timepiece valued at nearly £150,000.
The upkeep of such assets, combined with the costs associated with maintaining a large residence, has raised persistent questions about how Andrew financed his day-to-day living after his official income streams were reduced.
Last year, Andrew was told to leave Royal Lodge. King Charles III had arranged for his brother to move into a property on the Sandringham estate.
The Sandringham estate, which covers about 8,000 hectares and has been held by the royal family since 1862, is privately owned by the monarch rather than being part of the Crown Estate. It is located around two and a half hours’ drive north of London.
Andrew’s property history also includes significant overseas and domestic transactions. In 2014, he purchased a luxury chalet in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier for £18 million. The property was sold in 2022 for £22 million, generating a profit on paper.
According to reports, the buyer was British financier Philip Muelder, and the sale price was either at or near the asking figure of £20 million. The chalet had originally been purchased from Isabelle de Rouvre, who was described as a friend of Andrew and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson.
Andrew also previously owned Sunninghill Park, a mansion he received as a wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth II. In 2007, he sold the property to Timor Kulibayev, the son-in-law of the then president of Kazakhstan, for £15 million, which was reported to be £3 million above the asking price.
These property sales have played a significant role in Andrew’s ability to raise large sums of money in recent years.
The timing of the Verbier sale in 2022, in particular, has been linked to the same period in which Andrew reached a financial settlement with
Virginia Giuffre, the woman who accused Epstein of trafficking her and alleged that Andrew sexually abused her when she was a teenager.
The settlement, which resolved a civil lawsuit in the United States, was reported to be worth about £12 million.
Andrew’s relationship with Sarah Ferguson also factors into his financial picture. Although the couple divorced in 1996, they had continued to live together at Royal Lodge since 2008.
Ferguson was not expected to move to Sandringham at King Charles’s expense. She has previously acknowledged receiving £15,000 from Epstein to cover debts and later apologised for accepting the money in March 2011.
Multiple media outlets have reported that both Andrew and Ferguson maintained contact with Epstein after they had claimed to have ended their association with him in 2010.
What next for Andrew?
Andrew, who turned 66 on the day of his arrest, has previously denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and has said he regrets their friendship. He has not responded to requests for comment following the latest release of Epstein-related documents by the US government.
He is the first senior British royal
to have been arrested in this way, placing significant strain on the monarchy during King Charles III’s reign.
In a statement following the arrest,
King Charles said, “I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”
British media later published images of unmarked police vehicles and plain-clothed officers arriving at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, where Andrew is now staying.
Thames Valley Police also confirmed that officers were searching a property in Berkshire, where Andrew previously lived on the Windsor estate. Police have emphasised that an arrest reflects reasonable suspicion of an offence but does not amount to a finding of guilt.
Misconduct in public office is a common law offence, not defined by statute, and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if prosecuted in a Crown Court.
The complaint that triggered the current investigation was made by the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic following the release of more than three million pages of documents related to Epstein, who was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Those documents suggested that Andrew forwarded reports about countries such as Vietnam and Singapore to Epstein in 2010.
The misconduct inquiry is not the only matter being assessed by police. Republic has also reported Andrew to authorities over allegations that he was involved in the trafficking of a woman to Britain for sex in 2010.
Thames Valley Police said it was examining claims that a woman had been taken to an address in Windsor where Andrew lived until recently. Buckingham Palace has previously said it was ready to support any police investigation.
In an earlier statement, the palace said the king had expressed “profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct” and added, “Their majesties’ thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse.”
Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also called for an investigation into how Epstein was able to move women through London’s Stansted Airport without proper checks, arguing that this aspect of Epstein’s activities had not been adequately examined in earlier inquiries involving Andrew.
Essex Police said that it was looking into the issue.
If Andrew were to face formal criminal charges, he would join
a very small number of senior royals who have been accused or convicted of offences.
His sister, Princess Anne, was fined for speeding in 2001 and became the first royal in 350 years to be convicted of a criminal offence when she pleaded guilty in 2002 to failing to control a dog that bit two children.
In a much earlier historical case, King Charles I was tried for treason in 1649 and executed at the end of the English Civil War.
Andrew was forced to quit all official royal duties in 2019 because of the controversy surrounding his ties to Epstein. He was later stripped of his titles and honours by his elder brother in October last year amid further revelations about their relationship.
With inputs from agencies
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