Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie continue to have second homes inside King Charles' palaces despite not being working royals - all thanks to a 'rental deal' struck by their father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, it was reported today.
The disgraced former Duke of York has been arrested, kicked out of Royal Lodge and has not had an office at Buckingham Palace for four years due to the Epstein scandal.
But he has also successfully pushed for his children to 'retain a foothold' in palaces belonging to his older brother, the King.
As a consequence, Princess Beatrice still has an apartment in St James's Palace, despite her main home being in the Cotswolds, it was said.
And Eugenie has Ivy Cottage, a three-bedroom property at Kensington Palace, which apparently serves as a 'bolthole' because she spends half the year living in Portugal.
It is highly unlikely that the siblings will be paying the market rates of between £15,000 ($20k) and £19,000 ($25k)-a-month for homes in two of London's most illustrious addresses.
A source said: 'The [rental] deal was made with their father as he wanted them to have a foothold in the royal palaces.'
The sisters are not working royals - and are unlikely to ever be. Beatrice and Eugenie both have full-time jobs, with Eugenie working for art gallery Hauser & Wirth and Beatrice employed at software company Afiniti.
Yet have cut-price second homes inside royal palaces that millions would dream of.
Estate agents estimate that a property like Ivy Cottage could fetch £15,000 ($20k) per month depending on its condition and there is nothing to suggest that it is in poor repair.
Eugenie revealed in 2023 how she and Jack get takeaways delivered there.
She said that Deliveroo drivers have to give her a call, at which point she or Jack will get into their pyjamas, drive to the gates of the estate and pick the food up from there.
Beatrice still has a second home in St James' Palace, where a nearby two-bedroom apartment was recently on the market for £19,000 ($25k) a month. One home in the area went for £20,000 ($27k)-a-month last year.
The sisters have been dragged into the Epstein scandal by their parents and have already been told they cannot join the Royal Family at Royal Ascot this summer.
Private rental agreements within royal palaces have never been published. Although there was scandal in 2002 when it was revealed that Prince and Princess Michael of Kent used to live in a grace-and-favour home given to them by the Queen, which cost them just £69 ($90) a week to rent.
And when it comes to Andrew's children, it previously emerged that he was paying just £1,600 (2.1k)-a-month to rent a four-bedroom apartment in St James's Palace for them when they were younger, which was way below the market rate.
'These serve as London boltholes for the princesses', an insider told The Times of their homes.
Eugenie has a home with her husband Jack Brooksbank in Portugal, which is said to have been offered to her mother Sarah Ferguson as a place to stay in the wake of the Epstein Files scandal.
Beatrice lives with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a £3million ($4m) home in Oxfordshire with their two young daughters. It is said to have a granny annex for Fergie.
The sisters lived together in a luxurious apartment in St James's Palace for more than a decade before both women married.
'There are serious questions for King Charles here'.
The Mail on Sunday revealed last December how their father, the former Prince Andrew, saved up to £3.1million ($4m) paying a 'peppercorn rent'.
An investigation revealed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor rented the elegant four-bedroom flat for just £1,600 ($2.1k) a month, while a similar property within the palace was let on the open market for £20,000 ($26k) a month.
It means the disgraced royal paid less than £20,000 ($26k) a year for a lavish central London apartment worth more than 12 times that amount - £240,000 ($318k) a year - to the Crown's coffers.
The revelation is the second rent scandal to engulf Andrew, 66, after it emerged he was allowed to live rent-free in the 30-room Royal Lodge on the Windsor Estate for two decades.
Email reveals Andrew discussed $133k payments to his daughters
Last weekend Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were dragged further into the scandal engulfing their father after The Mail on Sunday discovered he pushed for them to receive £100,000 ($133k) in secret payments from a controversial billionaire he was helping while trade envoy.
The newspaper has previously exposed how Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor promoted the business interests of his financier friend David Rowland and his son Jonathan while on globetrotting taxpayer-funded trade missions.
Now, our investigations have uncovered an email revealing how Andrew discussed payments of £50,000 ($66k) to each of his daughters, which could have been used to fund their lavish lifestyles. Andrew was apparently due to receive £300,000 ($400k).
Last night, MPs demanded to know whether the payments were made in return for Andrew's help in pushing the Rowlands' commercial ventures.
The extraordinary revelation plunges Beatrice and Eugenie further into the controversy over their father's alleged abuse of his trade envoy position and comes amid mounting questions over how the princesses afforded their jet-set lifestyle in their 20s.