A “compensatory sum” of £185,865 a year would be due to Andrew until he reached year 25 of the agreement, in 2028.

Royal Lodge has 30 rooms, seven of which are bedrooms

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The Crown Estate disclosed an unredacted version of the lease to The Times, after demands from MPs and campaigners.

On Friday Andrew was forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, the King.

He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.

It was previously understood that Andrew had paid £1 million for the lease, and paid a “notional rent” of £260,000 per year from 2003, on top of committing to fund refurbishment of the property worth £7.5 million.

Prince Andrew signature on the agreement

The lease agreement has confirmed the notional rent would only be paid if he failed to do the works.

The £8.5 million initial outlay is equivalent to £113,000 per year, if he or his family remained in the property for 75 years, less than half the “notional” market rent.

The home had previously been occupied by the Queen Mother until her death, at which point Andrew said he would like to move in.

The “one peppercorn” in rent goes some way to addressing the question as to how Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have been able to afford to remain living in the mansion.

The King cut Andrew off financially last year by removing his £1 million annual allowance, leaving his only declared income as a £20,000 naval pension, however questions remain over how he funds his estimated £3 million-per-year security bill.

It came as the Metropolitan Police continued to investigate whether the prince asked a royal protection officer to “dig up dirt” on his sexual abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre. Andrew has categorically denied the claims made by Giuffre.

A Palace source said the allegations should be examined “in the proper and fullest ways”, in a sign of the pressure building on the prince.

Andrew is facing further allegations in Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl, which will be published on Tuesday.

On Monday, Princess Beatrice was seen driving into the family’s mansion on the Windsor Estate.

King Charles has sought to persuade Andrew to give up his right to the house, and instead move into Frogmore Cottage, in what was referred to as the siege of Royal Lodge.

Frogmore Cottage

ALAMY

The four-bedroom cottage, recently renovated by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is more modest and sits inside the Windsor security cordon.

By contrast, Royal Lodge is a sprawling estate encompassing 40 hectares within the heart of Windsor Great Park. The grade II listed property includes a gardener’s residence, six cottages for live-in staff and a “police suite” pro­viding accommodation for security ­officers.

It has long been said that Andrew could not be removed by legal force until 2078 because of an “iron-clad” leasehold agreement.

The 25-page document contains several standard clauses, including a requirement that “no part of the premises shall be used for any illegal or immoral purpose”, or “any act or thing whatsoever which may be or become a nuisance, annoyance or disturbance to the landlord or the owner”.

If he relinquishes the lease, Andrew will receive £557,595, part of his £7.5 million investment in the property. This is worked out at £185,865 for each remaining year up to 2028, or 25 years after he took the property on. After that time he would receive no compensation, the lease stipulates.

An National Audit Office report, from 2005, recorded that the lease’s commercial terms were reviewed by two independent advisers, and that, without the prince’s input, the refurbishment works would have been paid by the Crown Estate.

The works were substantially completed by 2005 as agreed. Two years later, Andrew sold his home in Sunninghill Park, Berkshire — a wedding present from the Queen — for £12 million.

The Crown Estate confirmed Royal Lodge is now held on a peppercorn rent, and a value “nil” was recorded in the NAO report. Andrew must continue to pay for the buildings’ upkeep.

The NAO report noted the lease to Andrew was “appropriate in view of the over-riding need to maintain close management control over Royal Lodge”, due to its sensitive location in the centre of Windsor Great Park, but accepted that this “need clearly constrained the Crown Estate’s ability to realise the highest market value for such a property”.

Baroness Hodge of Barking, the former chair of the Commons public accounts committee, said: “The Crown Estate is owned by us, and the onus is on those running the estate to maximise our income out of it. We should not be treating anyone in a different way.”

The titles Andrew has relinquished include his knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

Prince Andrew and the then Prince of Wales attending an annual Order of the Garter Service in 2015

PETER NICHOLLS/PA

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, Andrew said: “In discussion with the King and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

Ferguson, Andrew’s former wife, will no longer be known as the Duchess of York. Their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, are unaffected.