The Times of London released their months-long investigation – alongside the British broadcaster Channel 4 – into the finances of King Charles and Prince William over the weekend. Keep in mind, this was simply an investigation into the tip of the iceberg, the two privately-held duchies which supply the monarch and Prince of Wales with their income. For William, it’s the Duchy of Cornwall, and for Charles, it’s the Duchy of Lancaster. The Times revealed something which few people knew, which is that William and Charles are charging exorbitant rents on the military, public services and charities. They’re making millions off a prison on duchy land, firefighters, hospitals, toll bridges, churchs, pubs, schools, police and needy charities. Many had assumed that most of the rental income came from businesses, but that’s not the case. To make matters worse, the residential rentals on duchy property are basically moldy, environmentally efficient slums, which makes Charles and William royal slumlords. Oh, and all duchy income is tax-free. To push back on what should be a monarchy-shattering scandal, the duchies released mealy-mouthed statements.
In statements shared with PEOPLE, spokespersons for the Duchy of Lancaster and Duchy of Cornwall emphasized each estate’s private status.
“The Duchy of Lancaster manages a broad range of land and property assets. It is self-financing and does not receive any public funds in connection with its activities,” said a spokesperson from the Duchy of Lancaster. “It publishes an Annual Report and Accounts that is independently audited and available to view on its website and complies with all relevant U.K. legislation and regulatory standards applicable to its range of business activities.”
Offering a similar comment, a Duchy of Cornwall spokesperson said, “The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate with a commercial imperative which we achieve alongside our commitment to restoring the natural environment and generating positive social impact for our communities.”
“Prince William became Duke of Cornwall in September 2022 and since then has committed to an expansive transformation of the Duchy. This includes a significant investment to make the estate net zero by the end of 2032, as well as establishing targeted mental health support for our tenants and working with local partners to help tackle homelessness in Cornwall,” the spokesperson said.
“It is self-financing and does not receive any public funds in connection with its activities.” The Duchy of Lancaster will receive £11 million over 15 years because they’re charging the NHS to house their ambulances in a duchy-owned parking garage. William is literally charging the taxpayers for Dartmoor prison. He’s also charging the British Navy for the British coastline and fuel. There has been notable backlash, and I hope to see even more in the coming days and weeks. Graham Smith of Republic spoke to Newsweek:
Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy campaign group Republic, told Newsweek: “This is about basic standards, it’s about corruption, it’s about abuse of public money and public office, it’s about hypocrisy. And it’s about having people in public office who no one’s elected and who we wouldn’t elect in a million years because they do this kind of thing.”
Smith said: “If a politician did this kind of thing, if [U. K. Prime Minister] Keir Starmer said ‘OK, this huge tranche [of] Norfolk is now my private property, I’m going to take a million pounds off it,’ he’d be out of a job. How can giving Prince William £23 million a year as private income be justified because he has a handful of meetings with homeless charities? That’s just nonsense.”
I actually think Smith could and should go even harder. Seize the moment, blanket the Western media to give this story more attention. Because it’s horrible and once average people hear about it, they’re disgusted.
The anger on TikTok is real #C4Dispatches on the royals …… ouch pic.twitter.com/4h3WRcMD8D
— Beth (@CoutureLadyy) November 4, 2024
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red, Buckingham Palace.