What is Prince Andrew's Net Worth?
Prince Andrew is a member of the British royal family who has a net worth of $5 million. He was born Andrew Albert Christian Edward on February 19, 1960 at Buckingham Palace, London. He is the second son and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Also known as the Duke Of York, Andrew is currently ninth in the line of succession to the British throne. He currently falls behind his brother Charles, his nephew William, William and Kate's three children, his nephew Harry, and finally Harry and Megan's two children. At the time of his birth, and until William was born in 1982, Andrew was second in line behind only his brother, Prince Charles.
Outside of his royal duties, Andrew served as a helicopter pilot and instructor in the Royal Navy, flying multiple missions during the Falklands War.
Early Life
Educated in prestigious schools, Andrew joined the Royal Naval College Flight, and underwent pilot training. He went on to serve as an active duty helicopter pilot and later, an instructor in helicopter flight in the Royal Navy, where he also acquired the actual rank of commander and the honorary rank of rear admiral. As a naval officer, Prince Andrew took on an active duty during the Falklands War in 1981. Prince Andrew formally left the Royal Navy at the end of July 2001. In July 2005, he was promoted to honorary captain. He holds several posts in the British army, navy, air force and Commonwealth forces. He continued to carry out various royal duties and also served as the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, a position he held until July 2011.
Today he serves in the Diplomacy Section of the Naval Staff at the Ministry of Defense. Prince Andrew is also involved with more than 100 organizations, including Fight for Sight, Defeating Deafness, and the Commonwealth Society for the Deaf. He is the chairman of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children's Full Stop Campaign, the executive chairman of trustees of the Outward Bound Trust, and patron of the British Schools Exploring Society and the Sea Cadets.
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Finances and Real Estate
In the British monarchy, the next in line to the throne inherits a valuable real estate portfolio called The Duchy of Cornwall Trust. This trust, which Andrew's brother Prince Charles controls, generates around $20 million in income every year. For most of his adult life, up until he was forced out in January 2022, Andrew was supported by a tax free $322,000 annual allowance from his mother.
Despite not having a valuable royal trust like this brother, somehow Prince Andrew has himself built a valuable real estate portfolio that includes a seven-bedroom luxury lodge in Switzerland that he bought in 2014 for $17 million. Andrew and his wife at the time, Sarah Ferguson, bought the chalet from a French socialite named Isabelle de Rouvre under terms that allowed them to pay in installments. They reportedly secured a mortgage for roughly 75% of the purchase price and agreed to pay the remainder directly to de Rouvre in installments.
In a later court filing, Ms. de Rouvre claimed that Andrew and Sarah failed to make even the first installment, roughly $6 million. Ms. de Rouvre reportedly agreed to allow their installments to be deferred until December 2019 with interest, but Sarah and Andrew once again failed to make a payment. In response, a lawsuit was filed by de Rouvre in Swiss court. In late 2021, Andrew finally made good on a $9 million payment which finally secured the property from de Rouvre. Andrew reportedly made the payment so he could put the home on the market to fund his legal battles in America against a sexual assault accuser.
In 1986, as a wedding gift, Andrew was given a large country estate called Sunninghill House. Interestingly, he put the house on the market in 2002 but could not find a buyer for more than five years. Interestingly a buyer appeared in 2007 who paid $20 million, several million dollars over asking, through an overseas trust. The buyer was Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of Andrew's friend and hunting partner, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the former autocratic ruler of Kazakhstan. After Timur purchased the estate, it proceeded to sit empty and unattended for over a decade.
Andrew's primary residence is a $10 million mansion in the English countryside called Royal Lodge. He does not technically own Royal Lodge. The property is owned by the Crown Estate and was the former residence of his mother's mother, the Queen Mother. Andrew lives at the estate on a 100-year lease arrangement with the Crown Estate.
Personal Life
Prince Andrew was often considered to be less of an intellectual and more of an athlete than his brother, Prince Charles. For many years was referred to as "Randy Andy" for his reputation as a womanizer.
Andrew has been married only once to Sarah Ferguson, from 1986 to 1996. Their marriage, subsequent separation, and eventual divorce attracted a high level of media coverage. They had two children together, Princesses Beatrice Elizabeth Mary (born on August 8, 1988) and Eugenie Victoria Helena (born on March 23, 1990).
Whereas Princess Diana received a divorce settlement worth an estimated $24 million, Andrew was ordered to pay Ferguson just $600,000 in cash plus $900,000 to buy a new home.
Jeffrey Epstein Connection
Over the years, Prince Andrew has been heavily criticized over his long term friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew maintained this relationship, traveling with and staying at many of Eptsein's mansions, years after Epstein had served time in jail.
One of Epstein's known victims, a woman named Virginia Giuffre, has alleged that Andrew in initiated a sexual encounter that was orchestrated by Epstein. Virginia claims that she was trafficked to Andrew by Epstein for a sexual encounter in March of 2001. She subsequently produced a photo that allegedly shows Andrew, Virginia and Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell that was taken around the time of their encounter. If her allegations are true, she would have been 17 years old at the time. Virginia has claimed she had sex with Andrew three times, once in London in 2001 when she was 17, a second time in New York and a third time on Epstein's island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She alleges that Epstein paid her $15,000 to have sex with the Prince. Andrew has denied the accusations.
In the wake of the controversy and allegations, Andrew announced in May 2020 that he had permanently resigned from public roles as a member of the British Royal Family.
In February 2022 it was announced that Andrew had reached an undisclosed settlement with Virginia Giuffre. The settlement, which has been estimated/reported in the $10 million range – though that's totally unconfirmed – would be in the form of a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre's charity that supports sex trafficking victims. A number of outlets reported that the Queen was forced to help Andrew pay the settlement because he could not personally cover the debt.
