Calls for King and William’s duchies to be abolished to create ‘national estate’
Anti monarchy campaigners are calling on the King and the Prince of Wales’ duchies to be abolished and replaced with a new national estate to benefit the “common good”.
Charles receives an annual private income from the Duchy of Lancaster landed estate of £27 million, while William is entitled to more than £23 million a year from the Duchy of Cornwall.
Republic, which backs an elected head of state, is urging the Government to abolish the ancient Duchy portfolios and pass all revenue and assets to a new national estate to support local communities.
Ditch the Duchies
Republic proposes Charles, while he is head of state, “should receive a salary”.
The campaign group suggests this could be 110% of the Prime Minister’s salary – a drop from £27 million a year to about £190,000.
But it adds: “William has no official role and needs no salary from the state.”
The group’s report, Ditch the Duchies, states: “The national estate could invest that wealth into local communities, while offering leaseholders the right to buy freehold and ending needless charges to charities and public services.
“The national estate’s purpose will be the common good, not lining the pockets of two royals.”
It said: “How can we defend an annual income of more than £27.4 million for our head of state, more than 159 times that of the Prime Minister?
“The answer is that these incomes cannot be justified. And it is time government and parliament scrapped this indefensible arrangement. The solution is simple: abolish the duchies.”
An investigation into the duchies in November, by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times, found the estates have struck rental agreements worth millions of pounds with the armed forces, the NHS and state schools.
The Duchy of Lancaster agreed a deal to store ambulances in a warehouse on its land at a cost of more than £11 million to the NHS over 15 years, while the Ministry of Justice pays the Duchy of Cornwall £1.5 million a year to use Dartmoor Prison.
Republic argues the duchies are public property and state assets, and adds: “At a time when services are being cut, when more people are turning to charity and charities are struggling to keep their doors open, it is time Parliament gifted that land and its revenues to local communities, not the royals.”
Profits
The Duchy of Lancaster is land, property and assets which is held in trust for the sovereign, and provides the King with an income separate from the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant.
It has been the personal estate of the reigning monarch since 1399 and spans more than 18,000 hectares of land in England and Wales and comprises commercial, agricultural and residential properties mostly in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Lincolnshire.
It gives the monarch a source of income for funding – in the form of the net surplus – his private activities and some official expenditure, but the breakdown of how the King spends the private money – which is independent of the Government – is not released.
William is entitled to the surplus profits of the Duchy of Cornwall estate and the money is used to fund the official, charitable and private lives of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, but not their official travel.
The duchy was created in 1337 by Edward III to support his son and heir, Prince Edward, known as the Black Prince, and all his subsequent heirs.
It extends across 23 counties in England and Wales and includes the Oval cricket ground and 67,000 acres of Dartmoor.
The Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall declined to comment.
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Unlike the Crown Estate these duchies are private trusts in effect and not part of the government. However they ought to be subject to the usual taxation of such estates rather than voluntary agreements.
Duchies = stolen land.
I agree but, with the help of Starmer and his Loyalists, the English royals will find another way to continue to amass their fortunes, and avoid the normal taxation routes.
The full report is available on the Republic website. It’s comprehensive and well-researched.
The effect of the yellow placards stating ‘NOT MY KING’ have brought into sharp focus those serviles in front of them desperate to genuflect themselves to a man who will be responsible in part for the collapse of our NHS when it comes. I can only presume that they all must obtain their healthcare privately so to hell with the rest of us. They don’t even seem to be remotely embarrassed to be caught in a photograph doing this. There are those who say the Royals bring so much money in which begs the question where is the money?
There’s a royal visit to Pontypridd today, with a demo called against them calling to nationalise the crown estate.
The King of England only obtained those lands in Cornwall after the suppression of the rebellion of 1497. The King had imposed taxes to fund a war against Scotland. Those that rebelled had their lands and mineral rights confiscated. The landholdings should be returned to the people and any taxes on mineral or revenues from natural feature enjoyed by, and solely for, the people of Cornwall.