Five years ago, then-Prince Charles was trying to get some of the worst stories out before he became king. For like a full year, there were bimonthly exclusives in the Telegraph and Times of London, all about some of the shadiest sh-t you can imagine. There were stories about Charles taking money from the Bin Laden family, Charles accepting suitcases full of cash, Charles handing out knighthoods to despotic petrobillionaires who donated money to his foundation, and on and on. Once he became king, all of those stories disappeared, which was Charles’s plan all along. Not that there was a huge outcry as the stories percolated in real time. I said repeatedly back then that Charles was lucky that his post-Diana scandals were such dry financial crimes and improprieties. So it is with Prince William as well – people are always going to be more interested in the gossip about his sex life, his marriage and his violent temper, to the point where people aren’t even paying attention to William’s financial shenanigans.
Late last week, we learned something sort of bizarre. William has control of the Duchy of Cornwall, a vast real estate network of farms, slums and property which should be owned by the government and not work-shy Willy. Well, we learned that William is selling off ten duchy-owned farms in the Devon area. He’s giving farmers the chance to “buy” their farms at a discount, but those farmers would likely have to go heavily into debt to purchase even at a discounted rate. The farmers are absolutely furious and they’re talking to the press. But some people are baffled by the whole scheme in the first place – why in the world would William decide to liquidate ten duchy-owned farms to turn a profit? Those are the questions being asked by Norman Baker (who loves whacking the Windsors) and by various Labour MPs.
Prince William’s private property empire should be subjected to a full financial review, critics have said, after the proposed sale of land on a historic country estate showed it had become “mercenary”. The Duchy of Cornwall, which brought the Prince of Wales £22.9 million of private income last year, has been criticised over a decision to sell ten farms at the Bradninch estate in Devon. Tenant farmers affected by the sale said they had been appalled by the actions of the prince’s commercial body, which said it was orientating its portfolio towards areas of “significant social and environmental need”.
The farmers also criticised William, who champions mental health, for “causing sleepless nights” only weeks after they were reassured about the portfolio’s financial wellbeing. Royal finance experts said that the situation bolstered the case for more public scrutiny of the duchy after controversy in recent years about the £1 billion estate. William, the 25th Duke of Cornwall, assumed control of the duchy when his father became King.
However, Norman Baker, a former Liberal Democrat minister who has written extensively about the royal family, said that the duchy had become more “mercenary” under William’s control.
“Charles was pretty hands-on and he was certainly interested in making money for the duchy, but I think William is doing that with bells on,” he said. Since becoming heir to the throne, Baker said, William had prioritised money for himself and the duchy, which he had been “micromanaging”. “That’s where his priorities are, maximising the Duchy of Cornwall profit,” he said. Baker said the duchy’s claim that the proceeds of the sale of land in Devon would be focused on areas of social and environmental need should be taken with a “Siberian mine full of salt”. He said: “Will there be a couple of nice bits and pieces which they can point to? Yes, I’m sure there will — but that’s not what this is about. This is about maximising money.”
The duchy came under fire in 2024 when a Sunday Times investigation revealed that it was making large tax-free profits by charging charities, the NHS, schools and councils. The estate holds special status under an agreement with the Treasury, meaning that William can operate as a commercial landlord but is exempted from paying corporation tax on profits.
Baker said that an urgent review of the royals’ finances, including the Duchy of Cornwall, was needed to increase Buckingham Palace’s accountability during a time of growing public scrutiny. He called for the duchies to be abolished and wrapped into the Crown Estate, which manages royal assets on behalf of the taxpayer.
Baroness Hodge of Barking echoed the call for “much greater transparency” in how the Duchy of Cornwall and the Duchy of Lancaster were run. The Labour peer said that the duchies should not be seen as private entities owned by the royals and that the public had a clear stake going back to their creation in the 14th century. “These are not private assets,” she said. “They are assets that they have because they are the royal family, and they were granted to them to fund their duties.” Hodge chaired the Commons public accounts committee in 2013 when it called for a full Treasury investigation into duchy business deals to scrutinise whether their special tax status gave them an unfair competitive advantage.
Residents of Bradninch said they felt “insulted” that William was divesting himself of his estate while keeping the title of Baron of Bradninch. The title has been held by dukes of Cornwall since the duchy was established in 1337. Philip Chambers, 77, a town councillor, said: “This has really shaken up the community. Some of us feel rather insulted at the idea that the baron of Bradninch would divest himself of his Bradninch properties, but mostly we are concerned for the farmers.”
LOL, I didn’t know that a barony title was tied to the land as well. Given that a town in the County of Sussex had a petition against referring to Harry and Meghan by their Sussex titles, it does seem fair that William should give up his Baron of Bradninch title too, especially since he has no interest in holding on to the Bradninch farms for future dukes of Cornwall. It does feel like there should be more oversight, especially government oversight, if a high-handed Duke of Cornwall decides to liquidate duchy assets for no apparent reason. The claim that the profits from the sale of the farms will be folded back into the duchy doesn’t make any sense either – William is already getting £22.9 million annually from the duchy, why not reinvest some of those profits into the duchy?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
