Prince Andrew: Where does he get his money from?

Prince Andrew has settled a civil sexual assault case brought against him in the US by Virginia Giuffre.

However, questions remain over the size of the settlement and how Prince Andrew will be able to afford it. How can his income cover such expenses? Or will public funds be used towards the payment?

There has been widespread speculation that the payment from Prince Andrew could run into millions - with newspaper reports suggesting sums ranging from £7.5m to £12m.

But it's a confidential arrangement and it's unlikely the precise financial settlement will be made public.

Whatever the total amount, it will need to be big enough to cover an acceptably large payment to Ms Giuffre; a "substantial donation" to Ms Giuffre's charity supporting victims' rights; plus what are likely to be some eye-watering legal bills.

Royal finances are not always straightforward.

When he was a "working royal," carrying out duties on behalf of the Royal Family, it was suggested that Prince Andrew received about £250,000 per year, including the cost of running an office.

But that would have ended when he stepped down from official royal duties in 2019, in the wake of his Newsnight interview.

It hasn't been confirmed whether that was replaced by the Queen paying him from her private income.

Prince Andrew also receives an armed forces pension, thought to be about £20,000 a year.

He lives in the Royal Lodge in Windsor, a Grade II-listed property, but that's leased from the Crown Estate and is not an asset that could be sold.

But some extra funds could come from selling a luxury chalet in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier, which he bought in 2015 for over £8m with his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York.

It is not known how much the chalet will raise, but a spokeswoman for the prince said that a sale was currently in process, although yet to be completed.

His financial affairs, and how he has sustained his lifestyle, has been a long-running story.

In 2007, Prince Andrew sold his Sunninghill Park home for £15m - £3m more than the asking price - to Timor Kulibayev, the son-in-law of the then-president of Kazakhstan via an offshore trust in the British Virgin Islands.

The 12-bedroom house near Windsor Castle had been given to Prince Andrew as a wedding present from the Queen in 1986.

Prince Andrew is also reported to have had a £1.5m personal loan paid off in December 2017. According to Bloomberg News, the money was repaid by a company linked to a wealthy Conservative party donor - although Prince Andrew has never confirmed this.

Sarah, Duchess of York told the Standard in 2012 that she had made a "gigantic error of judgement" in accepting £15,000 from sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to pay off a debt.

"If the figure does turn out to be of the order of £5m to £10m, I don't think he has that money. And it's more than likely the Queen will fork out some money," royal finance expert David McClure told the BBC.

There have been suggestions this would be from her private funds, but Buckingham Palace says it won't comment on the financing of Prince Andrew's legal case.

The Queen's income comes from a mixture of public and private money - and there have been concerns about public money being used to pay for Prince Andrew's out-of-court deal.

Each year the Queen is given a single payment by the government called the Sovereign Grant. Last year it was set at £86.3m and it is used to pay for official royal running costs, such as staff, buildings and travel.

The value of the grant is based on the profits of the Crown Estate, a business that independently manages property and land owned by the monarch.

The Queen also receives private income from the Queen's Privy Purse.

This is the money from a private estate known as the Duchy of Lancaster, which covers over 18,000 hectares of land. It includes land in areas including Lancashire and Yorkshire, as well as property in central London.

The Duchy of Lancaster usually makes a profit of about £20m each year.

The Queen also has an income through properties such as Sandringham and Balmoral, which she owns privately.

But the uncertainty about who is paying for the settlement has prompted calls for more transparency.

"It is likely there will be some demands to know where the payment is coming from - public or private purse?" says Kate Macnab, a lawyer at Reeds Solicitors.