{"id":608659,"date":"2025-12-03T02:42:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T02:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/608659\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T02:42:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T02:42:31","slug":"duke-of-edinburgh-made-solo-outing-on-the-day-his-peppercorn-rent-deal-came-to-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/608659\/","title":{"rendered":"Duke of Edinburgh made solo outing on the day his peppercorn rent deal came to light"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Duke of Edinburgh made a solo outing on the day his peppercorn rent deal came to light.<\/p>\n

Prince Edward visited Reading School to commemorate the school’s 900th anniversary, marking a major milestone in the institution’s history.<\/p>\n

During the appearance, the prince observed local school children taking part in the school’s social impact programme, Future Stories.<\/p>\n

The students worked alongside primary pupils in tasks aimed at building confidence and expanding access to higher-quality learning opportunities.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

The Duke of Edinburgh made a solo appearance at Reading School.<\/p>\n

| PA<\/p>\n

Edward also met with Ukrainian students and witnessed creative design and Mandarin lessons.<\/p>\n

The visit concluded with a Commemoration Service attended by the Reading School community, Matt Rodda MP and the Mayor of Reading.<\/p>\n

Headmaster at the school, Dr Chris Evans, said: “We were honoured to welcome His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

“His visit recognises the significance of our 900th anniversary and celebrates the work of our students and staff to support local children through Future Stories.<\/p>\n

\"Reading<\/p>\n

Prince Edward’s visit concluded with a Commemoration Service attended by the Reading School community.<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS<\/p>\n

“Today’s classroom visits demonstrated the tangible difference that practical mentorship and early aspiration-raising can make to young learners’ confidence and future choices.”<\/p>\n

The duke’s visit came on the same day that his peppercorn rent deal at Bagshot Park came to light.<\/p>\n

The agreement, which was branded as “obscene”, came just weeks after it was revealed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had a similar set-up at Royal Lodge.<\/p>\n

Crown Estate documents show that the Duke of Edinburgh pays merely token rent for Bagshot Park, his 51-acre residence near Bracknell, following a \u00a35million advance payment in 2007.<\/p>\n

\"BagshotPrince Edward has faced criticism after his peppercorn rent deal at Bagshot Park. | GETTY<\/p>\n

The revelation has sparked criticism that the property represents a taxpayer-funded subsidy for King Charles’s younger brother, as the Crown Estate’s revenues ordinarily flow to the public purse.<\/p>\n

Campaigners argue the Bagshot Park estate could generate substantial income if leased commercially, questioning why the 15th-in-line to the throne receives such favourable terms for the property he has occupied for a quarter-century.<\/p>\n

Prince Edward’s 2007 agreement secured a 150-year lease of the Grade II listed property.<\/p>\n

The arrangement permits the duke to potentially profit from selling the lease, provided that any future occupant demonstrates financial capacity to maintain the mansion.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

The agreement, which was branded as “obscene”, came just weeks after it was revealed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had a similar set-up at Royal Lodge.<\/p>\n

| PA<\/p>\n

This contrasts specifically with Andrew’s lease, which restricts who can inherit Royal Lodge to just Sarah Ferguson and their daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.<\/p>\n

Prince Edward’s lease contains no such familial limitations for his wife, the Duchess of Edinburgh and their children, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex.<\/p>\n

Despite the criticism, the Duke of Edinburgh regularly undertakes domestic and overseas engagements as a senior working royal.<\/p>\n

The Crown Estate maintains the \u00a35million premium underwent market testing before approval, with usage restrictions aligned to the estate’s historical character.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Duke of Edinburgh made a solo outing on the day his peppercorn rent deal came to light.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,21034,5105,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-608659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-prince-edward","12":"tag-royal","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115653335009936717","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}