Queen rents Diana's flat to army Monarch charging rent from ministry

London: Documents released under freedom of information rules reveal that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is being charged an annual £108,408 by the monarch for accommodation in Kensington Palace used by General Sir Richard Dannatt, chief of the general staff.

Dannatt, 58, and his wife, Philippa, pay just £8,727 a year to live in the lavish quarters, which defence officials privately admit form part of the apartments used by Diana before her death in 1997. The couple also own a home in Norfolk.

Dannatt is one of 14 senior officers from the three services who live in accommodation that costs the MoD nearly £400,000 a year to rent. Four other military top brass live in their own homes.

The disclosure comes as an army officer reveals in Soldier magazine that the families of some troops serving in Afghanistan were living in homes without heating and hot water throughout winter.

In 2007, a report by the National Audit Office, the spending watchdog, claimed that 19,000 family homes for troops - 40 per cent of the total - were substandard.

The MoD refused to identify the senior officer living in Kensington Palace, but justified its use by claiming that its occupant had to "entertain and accommodate guests, including British royalty, ministers, politicians and overseas representatives to support MoD objectives".

Buckingham Palace said the MoD was paying a "commercial rent" and the money was ploughed back into the upkeep of royal buildings.

- The Times Newspapers Limited, London 2009