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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been pictured with a mystery large bruise across his face while driving close to his Sandringham home. The large mark covers the area around his right eye and most of his cheek. It is unclear how the ex-Duke of York came to sustain the bruise. Andrew also paid no rent for 20 years and his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie have their rent in royal palaces paid by the King, a report has revealed. 00:00 | Nick Ferrari hears from a doctor, Professor Sneh Khemka on the bruise 02:22 | George Greenwood, investigations reporter at The Times, was behind the original scoop last year that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was paying a 'peppercorn' rent at Royal Lodge 07:38 | Norman Baker, former Liberal Democrat Home Office minister and author of 'Royal Mint, National Debt: The Shocking Truth about the Royals' Finances' 09:15 | Texters distinguish between paying for 'hard working royals' and 'non-working royals'. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #lbc #nickferrari #andrewmountbattenwindsor #windsor #theroyalfamily #king #kingcharles #rent #housing #royallodge #taxpayermoney #ukpolitics #uknews LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
It's more than a bruise. It's considerable bruising or..
0:03
The sun is quite a clever headline. What a bloody cheek on both fronts
0:06
But what could cause bruising to that level? Let's turn to Dr Medical Commentator Professor Snei Kemka, who joins me now
0:13
Obviously, I'm grateful to you, Professor, because you haven't seen him. He is not presented in front of you. You have no idea
0:19
But it's worth noting more than two or three newspapers say he is a keen horseman
0:24
The level of bruising and injury that we can see in these photographs, Would it be consistent with falling from a horse, do you imagine
0:30
Good morning. Yes, good morning. It's very difficult to tell, as you say
0:35
Grainy photographs and him behind a screen in a car means you can't really give it any medical diagnosis
0:43
So things that appear to me from the picture that I've seen is that it's probably a few days old
0:49
The blood that's there, that's accumulated, the bruise, it looks like it's settled a bit, it's darkened a bit
0:54
There's no obvious swelling. So I'd imagine that he may have suffered an injury a few days ago
1:00
I'm speculating here, but it's possible that he's on a blood thinner
1:04
which could make it look worse as well, because if you do get a minor knock, it can look really terrible
1:09
especially on the face where the skin is thin and there are capillaries. But if I were a betting man
1:14
I'd probably say that it's some sort of traumatic injury. And if he's a keen horse rider
1:19
things often happen with horses that you may get a knock or something like that. A man in his mid-60s, it's highly likely he could be on a blood thinner, right
1:28
That's the sort of thing you take as regards to blood pressure. Is that right, Professor? Yeah, absolutely. Not so much for blood pressure
1:33
You take blood thinners if you're at risk of getting blood clots in the heart
1:38
or getting a stroke or something like that. But, yes, it wouldn't be unusual for a man in his 60s
1:43
And, you know, he's obviously enjoyed a good life as well, so he probably needs some sorts of medications
1:48
But, I mean, it is quite a significant bruise. So whatever's caused it, it's not an innocuous thing that's happened to him
1:55
He's taken quite a knock to the face for that to happen. And it's fairly evident that he's been in some sort of injury to get that thing
2:03
Great for your time. Thank you, Professor. I say again, of course, Professor working just from photographs, as he rightly says, taken through a car windscreen or side window
2:10
But you can see those photographs, by the way, on the LBC app. So if you're not aware, and it's one heck of a shiner, as they used to be called, you can see that on the LBC app
2:21
Another slew of headlines about a disgraced former Duke. For the Daily Telegraph, Andrew cashed in with secret rent deals
2:30
Similar for the Times Andrew cashed in with Windsor Cottage sublets The Daily Mail Beatrice and Eugenie his daughters I remind you have lived at Pallas rent for years and the son featuring a photograph of the former Duke with severe bruising to his right cheek
2:47
what a bloody cheek, with the sub-deck, or the sub-headline, ex-Duke pocketed Royal Lodge cash
2:55
Essentially this comes down to the fact that Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have never personally paid a penny in rent
3:00
despite living in exclusive Palace properties for nearly 20 years. This is a report by the National Audit Office, and it reveals some of the deals that working and non-working royals have benefited, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's two daughters, who perform no royal duties but have been secretly subsidised for years by formerly their grandmother, the late Queen, and now, of course, their uncle, King Charles
3:22
And there's a degree of unrest. Now, there's an interesting piece in one of the papers today, and possibly it speaks for many people
3:30
It's by journalist and author A.N. Wilson, writing in one paper, The Daily Mail, in which he says that he is an absolute supporter of the monarchy, as am I
3:38
But he hints at the fact that there is a shocking sense of entitlement
3:42
among some of our royals. Let's bring to the conversation George Greenwood
3:47
whose investigations report at The Times. Now, he was behind the original exclusive last year
3:52
that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was paying a peppercorn rent at Royal Lodge and joins me now
3:58
if we can George if we if we broaden this out again referencing that piece in one of the papers
4:03
is there a sense of entitlement some members of our royal family George good morning good morning
4:09
I think one of the things that that needs to be made clear with all this reporting is
4:13
how much as taxpayers we are indirectly subsidizing um some of those activities so
4:19
how the royal finances work obviously the royal the king has private money uh there's the royal
4:25
household is some income but a lot of that income comes from something called the sovereign grant
4:29
that's money that is calculated as part of the um part of the payments that the treasury would get
4:36
from the crown estate uh and that goes to fund uh the royal household's work if you look at the
4:42
detail of this report a lot of the subsidies that the royal household control are being charged at
4:48
quite subsidized rent that also includes eugenie and beecher's property so they're only paying
4:53
60% of the market value of that rent. Now, the king is covering that 60%, but there's a 40
4:59
gap there. And in practice, you know, that is money that if it was raised, would not have to
5:05
be provided for by the sovereign grant. So in a way, we are indirectly subsidising these free
5:11
flats for non-working royals. And I think that's something that's being missed as part of this
5:15
debate so far today We do talk about it in the Times paper there not been widely picked up that this is effectively an indirect taxpayer subsidy for people who are not going out and opening fates and doing campaigning work and all this kind of stuff
5:28
I think there does need to be a wider debate around that, because personally, as a taxpayer, you know, I'm you know, I'm not necessarily an opponent of the royals
5:37
But I do think that there needs to be maximal transparency. And the fact we're only finding out today about some of these arrangements really does speak to the fact that we have to drag this information out little by little from from the royal household
5:49
George, noting you're the investigations reporter at the Times, not the royal reporter, but didn't the King or hasn't there been language concerning a slimmed down royal family? It doesn't seem to resonate with what you've just told us
6:03
Well, I think the slim down, it appears that Charles is making some attempts at this
6:09
You know, there have been, you know, since the late Queen, some changes to how that works
6:15
Certainly there are, I think, fewer working royals. It has been briefed out by Kensington Palace that they are looking at a more Scandinavian model for the royals
6:26
So if you look at places like Norway, for example, there's a very much smaller pool of working royals
6:34
And outside of that, they don't have royal titles. It's just you're either a person doing, you know, public work on behalf of royal family or you're not doing anything
6:43
And you just happen to have, you know, you happen to be a relative of the royals
6:47
And I do think that there may be some merit in that case. You know, if you want to have a royal family in the UK, obviously it's a big tourist draw and it's a big, you know
6:55
It's an alternative to a present system that could end up being more politics. There does have to be a recognition that in a cost-of-living crisis
7:03
that you have to be able to justify that. And I think certainly that's the model where it appears that William may be looking to go in the future
7:10
And that may be something that's more justifiable. Otherwise, you're having days like today where every front page of the ��
7:16
almost every front page is dealing with these quite shocking revelations, quite frankly
7:21
about how there is this indirect taxpayer subsidy. and of course Andrew, you know
7:25
who's only paying a very limited amount for the property, personally profiting from his staff paying rent
7:32
George, I must leave it there. Thank you. Enjoy your weekend. George Greenwood is an investigations reporter at the Times
7:36
He had the original scoop involving Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Let's get a quick word with Norman Baker
7:40
who of course is a former Liberal Democrat Home Office Minister. He wrote Royal Mint National Debt
7:44
the shocking truth about the royal's finances. Mr Baker, when I tell you that one journalist
7:49
I'll say again, A.N. Wilson, writes, the vast majority of us want a monarchy, but not a royal family with this sense of entitlement
7:55
How would you respond Good morning I think that where the majority of people are There are people who are monarchists and who see nothing wrong with the monarchy whatsoever and won hear a word against them and there are Republicans who won hear a word for them
8:07
But I think the majority of British people are in the middle, where they're prepared to have a monarchy
8:11
but they want a monarchy which is much cheaper and much better value for money
8:15
without the tax exemptions, without the free deals, without the sweetheart deals that we're seeing coming out in the papers today
8:22
I think that's where people are. Lastly, 11 members of the royal family live in grace and favour apartments in St James's Palace and Kensington Palace
8:30
Is that necessary? No, it's not necessary. When we hear about a slimmed-down monarchy, we heard that from Charles before he became king
8:37
You know, I'm not interested in a slimmed-down monarchy with fewer people in the balcony of Buckingham Palace
8:41
I'm interested in a slimmed-down monarchy that costs a lot less money for us who are paying for it
8:45
And there's no indication that's happening. In fact, the cost of monarchy is going up and up
8:50
Grateful for your time. Norman Baker, thank you. former Liberal Democrat Home Office Minister. You wrote Royal Mint National Debt
8:55
the shocking truth about the royal's finances. So, are you on the same page as the journalist in the newspaper today
9:02
who says, we support the royal family, but we have an issue with a sense of entitlement
9:07
Eleven royals living rent-free in those two different palaces, is that really necessary
9:15
Is there a sense of entitlement with some of them? Jamie says, I don't see the issue with accommodating royals like Princess Anne
9:20
who do a lot for charity and are hard-working royals. But just giving the entire family free comforts
9:25
when they don't work that hard, I'm totally against it. Well, as I just told you at the start
9:29
that this is 11 members of the royal family are in those two different palaces
9:34
This also comes in from John. Unfortunately, King Charles has talked about slimming down the monarchy
9:40
but in reality it has not happened, but it needs to. He cannot expect all of us to continue
9:46
when, as one of your contributors just said, we have a cost-of-living crisis
9:50
there is a cost of living crisis it it doesn't sit well the fact by the way that it has attracted
9:55
such level of attention so many different front pages and again this this sense of entitlement
10:00
i think if you look and they every year there a list is published of uh the hardest working royals
10:06
and princess anne is always near the top the top or near the top and i think which you're putting in
10:11
that kind of shift and obviously the goodness sake the king has to be looked after but when you come
10:16
to the daughters of a former duke a disgraced former duke former prince and we're now giving
10:23
his daughters who are don't work as royals i'm sure they carry out the old engagement
10:28
they have homes of their own they have they both happen to be married to i imagine
10:32
probably quite wealthy blokes so they have their own houses and we still give them apartments
10:38
is that the line over which we're starting to cross
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