Princess Beatrice spotted out partying after 'rent-free' royal living bombshells

Princess Beatrice has been pictured out and about in London on Thursday evening, hours before the latest bombshells regarding her “rent-free” living arrangements were released. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s oldest child attended a glitzy event in the capital, alongside other Hollywood celebrities, including Nicky Hilton, Stacey Bendet, Olivia Attwood and mma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath.

The gathering was an in-store event for fashion brand, Alice + Olivia. Beatrice looked elegant in an embellished black dress with a matching jacket on top.

She paired the look with a pair of black high heels and kept her hair and make-up natural with full-on lashes.

Hours later, an investigation revealed that Beatrice and her sister, Princess Eugenie had their rent for their royal homes paid for by their uncle, King Charles.

The National Audit Office has published a report into the royal family’s residential property arrangements after controversy surrounding the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s lease of the Crown Estate home.

It revealed that the York sisters have been living rent-free in Kensington Palace and St James’s Palace, despite having their own jobs outside royal duties.

And for a number of years, their adjusted rents – reduced because the Royal Household properties require tenants with security clearance – were based on outdated open-market valuations.

Other bombshell findings include that Andrew received an undisclosed private income from subletting three cottages on his Royal Lodge estate while paying a peppercorn rent for more than two decades.

Sources suggested that Andrew’s subletting did not generate a profit and that the rent was set only to cover maintenance and staff living costs.

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 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 Charles out of the Privy Purse, which is made up of his Duchy of Lancaster income and other private funds.

For the properties rented to Beatrice and Eugenie, the rent paid by the King is said to cover maintenance and operational costs for the homes, with no additional cost to the Sovereign Grant.