Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed driving yesterday with a large bruise on his face. Whichever unfortunate ‘well-placed source’ that has the responsibility for reassuring the public about the disgraced former royal’s wellbeing insisted that the injury was not down to some outraged former lover or member of the public attacking him. Nevertheless, they said, it could not be revealed for ‘medical confidentiality’.

However disfiguring the injury, however, it seems insignificant when compared to the even more bruising round of revelations that have emerged about Andrew’s financial situation – this time involving his former home of Royal Lodge.

It has been known for years that the royals’ finances in general and Andrew’s in particular are somewhat opaque, and with good reason. A new report published by the National Audit Office (NAO) suggested firstly that Andrew had been subletting several of the cottages that were on his grounds and secondly that he had been pocketing the money himself, rather than investing it in any public or royal endeavours. These payments continued even after he had been evicted in disgrace last year.

This unedifying saga shows no signs of dying down

This comes on the heels of the embarrassing disclosure that Andrew was living rent-free in Royal Lodge after paying £7.5 million in 2003 for its refurbishment costs. It suggests that his ever-vigilant attitude towards filling his considerable pockets began closer to home.

No figures have been released about the amount of rent that he was charging his tenants – who may have been somewhat irked by their landlord’s growing unpopularity – but it is unlikely to have been a small amount. While this latest revelation does not suggest any criminality on the former Duke of York’s part, it is an embarrassing contribution to an unedifying saga that has yoked sex and money together. It shows no signs of dying down, thanks to the public appetite for discovering every last detail of his alleged misdemeanours.

Yet the NAO’s report does not just implicate Andrew. It reveals that his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie have never been charged rent for their grace-and-favour homes at Kensington Palace and St James’s Palace. If there is anything to be paid for, the costs are met by their uncle, the King, albeit at a heavily discounted rent of about 60 per cent of market value.

This is by no means a new revelation – it was part of a deal agreed upon a long time ago and brokered by the Queen. But many, not just committed republicans, will ask why two non-working members of the royal family should be given such an indulgence? Particularly given that questions remain about how far they were subsidised, knowingly or otherwise, by their parents’ association with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Beatrice and Eugenie are joined in this paradisical rent-free existence by Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, whose costs are also covered by the King. The report also suggests that Prince Edward – a man who has, sensibly, kept a low profile over the past couple of years – has been similarly able to pocket the proceeds of letting out the subsidiary properties from his estate in Bagshot Park. He also has the option to rent out the entire estate if he finds himself short of a few quid.

All of this is contributing to a sense that the royals are badly misjudging a public mood. The general population is feeling certainly anti-Andrew and even more anti the level of unearned privilege that many of its lesser members are enjoying, free of charge.

A spokesman for the Crown Estate suggested, clearly through gritted teeth, that:

We welcome the NAO review, which confirms its leases with members of the royal family were agreed in line with independent, professional advice and open market valuations. We look forward to discussing the report further with the public accounts committee.

Undoubtedly, the royals will be hoping that these latest disclosures will bring this embarrassing matter to an end. However, this seems highly unlikely. Instead, as Andrew’s dealings continue to be the subject of intense public scrutiny – to say nothing of a police investigation – this unedifying saga shows no signs of concluding any time soon.