Royal estates ‘receive millions from public bodies and charities’

Details about the royal family’s finances, including rent received from the NHS, schools and the armed forces, have been revealed as part of a new documentary.

From Channel 4’s Dispatches investigation and the Sunday timesThe private estates of King Charles and Prince William have reportedly received millions of pounds in income from contracts with government agencies and charities.

Last year these deals with the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall were worth almost £50 million, it is claimed.

A spokesperson for the Duchy of Lancaster, King Charles’ private estate, said it “complies with all relevant UK legislation and regulatory standards applicable to its range of business activities”.

The Duchy of Lancaster, created in 1399, and Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall, created in 1337, both own large amounts of land and commercial real estate in England and Wales.

Their contracts with government agencies are said to include a £37 million deal between the Duchy of Cornwall and the Ministry of Justice to lease Dartmoor Prison, and an £11.4 million deal between Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust and the Duchy of Lancaster to rent the prison. a warehouse in London for 15 years.

The programme, Dispatches’ The King, The Prince and Their Secret Millions, reports that details of the leases have not been provided to Parliament.

The documentary raises concerns about the environmental impact of some of the estates’ contracts, including those with mining companies.

The two private estates are separate from the Crown Estate, a collection of lands and properties that operate as a private company and are owned by the “sovereign for the duration of their reign”.

The Royal Family receives the Sovereign Grant, taken as a percentage of the Crown Estate’s profits, intended to pay for running costs. Next year this will rise to £132 millionafter profits from the Crown Estate soared to £1.1 billion.

A spokesperson for the Duchy of Cornwall said it is “a private estate with a commercial need that we achieve alongside our commitment to restoring the natural environment and generating a positive social impact for our communities”.

On the mining issue, the spokesperson said the Duchy was “acting responsibly and in a sustainable way” in line with the government’s industrial strategy.

A spokesperson for the Duchy of Lancaster said it “operates as a commercial company and manages a wide range of land and property assets across England and Wales”.

They said the Duchy “delegates certain functions, in particular those relating to asset management, to the Duchy Council” and while the King “takes a keen interest” in the work of the Duchy, the responsibility is for the day-to-day management of the portfolio. of the board and the executive team.

It added that it had “implemented a number of significant environmental improvements in recent years”.