premium of £670,000 was payable to the Crown Estate, together with an annual rent of £1,000 for the first 25 years, rising in defined stages every 25 years to £6,000 per annum for the last 25 years. The lease required the leaseholder to put the property "in good and substantial repair" and to maintain it as such, to preserve the character of the property. According to the National Audit Office report on Thatched House Lodge, "considerable sums have been spent during the last 40 years of occupation". The leasehold arrangements reflect the fact that the property was acquired by Ogilvy on a purely commercial basis, having acquired the sublease of the property for market value on the open market. The commercial nature of the leasehold is shown by the very considerable premium of £670,000 paid on the 1994 extension of the lease, with all maintenance at the expense of the leaseholder, and no charges resulting to the Crown Estate. Independent advice from a leading firm of chartered surveyors taken by the Crown Estate on the 1994 lease extension used the valuation methods applicable to a leaseholder's statutory rights on renewal of a lease. As the property was acquired in an open market transaction, the leasehold of the property may be sold except in the last five years of the lease. Therefore, although Thatched House Lodge is a royal residence by virtue of being inhabited by Princess Alexandra, it is in fact private property, the sub-lease of which was acquired on the open market, and the leasehold having been bought by Ogilvy. As a result, the property may be sold by the princess or her heirs, subject to the underlying Crown Estate long lease. The property is in an "exempted" area (Richmond Park) where freehold sales are not available. The leasehold arrangements concerning Thatched House Lodge differ from the arrangements relating to other royal residences leased from the Crown Estate, Royal Lodge and Bagshot Park, leased by the Duke of York and Earl of Wessex respectively. In particular the Crown Estate never made a contribution towards restructuring Thatched House Lodge, as it did in the case of Royal Lodge and Bagshot Park, showing the non-commercial considerations which influenced those leases as opposed to Thatched House Lodge. See also List of British royal residences References Further reading External links Bing map/ Bird's eye view British Pathe (1969): Princess Alexandra At Home –