People have been left stunned after learning just how little Andrew Windsor was paying each year to live in his luxurious Windsor mansion before being stripped of his royal titles.

Last week, King Charles officially removed his younger brother’s royal titles and honours, including the title of prince, following disturbing allegations made against him by Virginia Giuffre, a trafficking victim of the late Jeffrey Epstein.

“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” the Royal Family said in a statement.

Ordered to Leave Royal Lodge

The statement also confirmed that the disgraced royal would soon vacate his residence:

“His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence.
Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”

Andrew had held a 75-year lease on Royal Lodge, a grand 30-room mansion located in Windsor Great Park, which he rented for the token sum of “one peppercorn” a year.

The Meaning Behind the Peppercorn Rent

The unusual rent stems from a centuries-old tradition, when peppercorns were once considered valuable and used as symbolic payments to make legal contracts valid.

Today, the phrase “one peppercorn rent” is merely symbolic — the equivalent of paying a dollar to formalize a lease. Of course, it’s highly unlikely Andrew ever turned up at Buckingham Palace with a single black pepper seed in hand.

In fact, the contract stated a rent of “one peppercorn (if demanded)” per year — essentially a worthless sum for a family with billions in assets.