DISGRACED former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed with a huge purple bruise on his face just before it was revealed he could have made millions from subletting properties.
The commoner, who was stripped of his royal status over his links with Jeffrey Epstein, was photographed at the wheel of his car leaving Sandringham Estate with another man on Thursday.
It is not known how Mountbatten-Windsor received the bruise, though it has been suggested in reports that it is the result of a non-serious medical condition.
He was photographed on the day before a National Audit Office (NAO) report found the disgraced former royal sublet three cottages while he was at the Royal Lodge, Windsor.
His tenancy was covered by a “peppercorn rent”, and no figures from the rental income he derived from subletting have been made public.
🚨 PICTURED: Former Prince Andrew with a large bruise on his face earlier today pic.twitter.com/ycidUrKcL1
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) June 4, 2026
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of public misconduct in February and later released.
Other findings by the public spending watchdog include the revelation that the King foots the bill for Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s accommodation in royal palaces despite both Mountbatten-Windsor’s daughters being non-working royals.
And for a number of years, their adjusted rents – reduced because the Royal Household properties require tenants with security clearance – were based on out-of-date open market valuations.
Former LibDem minister Norman Baker branded the arrangements “outrageous”.
He added: “It shows an absolute total contempt for the taxpayer, not only that Andrew was able to have a peppercorn rent for a gigantic property, but then to make potentially millions on the side from subletting properties.
“The money should have gone to the Crown Estate, not into (his) pockets.”
He added of Beatrice and Eugenie: “There’s no way that non-working members of the royal family should be subsidised by the Duchy of Lancaster.
“The royal family is yet again taking the public for a complete ride.”
Sources suggested to the Press Association that Andrew’s subletting did not generate a profit and that the rent was set at a rate to only cover maintenance and running costs for staff living there.
But no figures, such as repair and household costs versus rental income, or copies of the rental agreements, have been made public.
The NAO report stated: “Three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate were also sublet with income generated from subletting payable to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.”
Up until this year, Eugenie’s rent of Ivy Cottage in Kensington Palace was based on a 2018 valuation and Beatrice’s apartment in St James’s Palace on a 2020 valuation.
Eugenie’s rent was 50% of the 2018 open market value from 2020 to 2021, and ranged from 55% in 2022 to 63% in 2025, while rent on Beatrice’s was 60% of the 2020 market value from 2020-2021 and ranged from 62% to 68% between 2022-2025, the NAO said.
The current rental rates are now 64% of a 2026 open market valuation for Eugenie and 68% of a 2026 valuation for Beatrice.
But both rents are paid to the Royal Household entirely by the King out of the Privy Purse.
