How to live like a King on national institutions
The Duchy Files: uncovering every plot of land owned by the ancient Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and the business deals with the NHS, schools and military that help fund the royals.
The private property empires that fund the King and Prince William are making millions of pounds a year from charges paid by the armed forces, the National Health Service, schools, mining companies and big businesses.
The Sunday Times and Channel 4 have revealed full details of the vast ancient estates owned by the King and the prince, and the business deals struck to fund their lifestyles.
Contracts for more than 5400 landholdings, mineral rights and properties held by the Duchy of Lancaster, on behalf of the King, and the Duchy of Cornwall, for the prince, show the duchies generate profits by charging the army, the navy, hospitals, the prison service, schools and councils for the right to use lands, rivers and seashores seized for the duchies in medieval times.
Last year the Duchy of Lancaster raised £27.4m ($54m) for the King, and the Duchy of Cornwall raised £23.6m for William to pay for their private homes, personal income and staff.
They operate as commercial landlords while holding a special status exempting them from paying corporation tax on their profits, and capital gains tax on assets they sell. Charles and William voluntarily pay tax on the money they receive from the duchies, minus deductions for business and household expenses.
The Times investigation found that the duchies impose levies for the right to cross rivers or dump waste in them, offload cargo on to the shore, run cables under their beaches, operate lifeboats and a public toilets, and even dig graves. They make revenue from toll bridges, ferries, sewage pipes, pubs, churches, village halls, distilleries, gas pipelines, rental homes and wind turbines.
The Duchy of Lancaster has a deal with Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Trust in London that will charge the NHS more than £11m over 15 years for the right to park ambulances in one of its warehouses. The Duchy of Cornwall receives rent for Dartmoor Prison in a contract under which the Ministry of Justice will pay £37m over 25 years for the right to house prisoners there, although the building was built at public expense.
The Royal Navy pays the Duchy of Cornwall more than £1m to moor boats at the naval academy in Dartmouth and refuel warships at Devonport royal dockyard, Plymouth, the UK’s biggest naval base. The army must also pay for the right to train in Dartmoor national park. The King heads the armed forces and William is commodore-in-chief of the submarine service.
The Sunday Times
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