Slumlord Prince William will no longer charge rent for playgrounds or fire stations

Last November, the Times of London and Dispatches collaborated on an investigation into the Duchy of Cornwall and Duchy of Lancaster, the two “privately held” estates of the Prince of Wales and the monarch (respectively). The duchies are vast empires consisting of commercial real estate, private real estate and land which should technically “belong” to the country, like the seabeds and the land on which prisons are built. Last year’s investigation revealed all of that and more – the duchies are charging public services and charities huge sums of money for “rent.” The Duchy of Cornwall in particular operates as drafty, moldy old rentals which seniors cannot afford to update out of their own pocket. Well, good news. Everyone shamed Slumlord Willy so badly, he’s now allowing some Duchy properties to go rent-free.

Prince William has stopped imposing rents on lifeboat stations, the fire service, village halls and school playing fields after a Sunday Times investigation revealed his private property empire was making large sums of money from charities and community groups. The Duchy of Cornwall, which provides William with a private income, said it had taken the opportunity “to stop and reflect” since the story and the estate now wished to adopt a “new policy” to ensure it was “a force for good in the years to come”.

Charles and William operate as commercial landlords while holding a special status exempting them from paying corporation tax on their profits. Last year, the Duchy of Lancaster raised £27.4 million for the King, and this year the Duchy of Cornwall raised £22.9 million for the prince, which they use to fund their private homes, personal income and staff. This private income is separate from the £132 million of public money, the sovereign grant, the royals will receive from the Exchequer this year to finance their formal duties, palaces and official households.

The Duchy of Cornwall has now announced it will stop imposing the following rental charges:

• £600 a year from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for permission to use the prince’s beaches at Salcombe, Sennen Cove, the Lizard, Rock and St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly.
• £15,000 from Devon county council over 50 years to allow Princetown fire station to operate on duchy land.
• Thousands of pounds a year from communities for permission to use village halls in Curry Mallet and Newton St Loe, allotments in Bradninch and a community orchard in Newquay used to help disadvantaged groups.
• £3,000 over 20 years from the Trinity House maritime charity for the right to operate the Bishop Rock lighthouse in the Isle of Scilly.
• Thousands of pounds a year from councils and schools so the public can use playing fields, rugby pitches and recreation grounds in Princetown, Corston, Clandown near Bath and Stoke-sub-Hamdon in Somerset.
• £125,000 over 25 years from the government for the use of the visitor centre and shop at Tintagel Castle, which fund the castle’s preservation.
• £200 a year for the use of a children’s play area in Poundbury, Dorset, and rental payments from the Scouts.

The duchy said it was also reviewing the rents it charges state schools. Devon county council is required to pay the duchy at least £319,000 over 21 years for the right to operate Princetown Community Primary School, on Dartmoor. Farrington Gurney Church of England Primary School, near Bath, is paying £60,000 for the use of its premises over 25 years.

[From The Times]

Along with all of these announcements, some Duchy of Cornwall spokesperson slavishly praised Slumlord Willy and all of the duchy employees who made this happen. Like… no, you don’t get to pat yourself on the back for this. It was either this or a bloody revolution, and reading the list of people and groups which were paying rent to the duchy, I still think “dissolving the monarchy” should be a major option. The duchy had been charging rent from fire stations, playgrounds and a LIGHTHOUSE. There’s no mention of Dartmoor prison, which is still paying exorbitant rent to the duchy, even though the prison is no longer functioning. There’s also no mention of all of those seniors living in moldy rentals.


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Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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39 Responses to “Slumlord Prince William will no longer charge rent for playgrounds or fire stations”

  1. aquarius64 says:

    William did this because throwing dirt on the Sussexes won’t make this go away.

    • Blogger says:

      Hope it continues.

      The Duchies need to return to public hands and these lazy Waleses can live on a salary like the other European royals.

      Then they can get a proper annual performance review.

  2. Blogger says:

    How about the NHS tenants?

    Really, it should be £1/ year. Peppercorn rent. Noblesse oblige.

    I’d suggest nationalising these properties. It’s ridiculous Willy gets private income from these places.

    • Fran says:

      Exactly! How can anything other than £1 peppercorn rents be justified for NHS use! He’s the patron of NHS Charities Together for goodness sake.

    • Becks1 says:

      yeah, when you see this list, its just ridiculous. the SCOUTS were paying 300 pounds a year to the duchy to use a playground?? the scouts of which his wife is a patron?

      And the thing is, cutting out these rents wont make a dent in his income. Its something easy for him to do that gets him good press without likely costing him anything more than a few pennies.

      • Smart&Messy says:

        That’s what I thought! He picked the smallest items on the rental income list. He rakes in millions from the military, nhs and the prison rental anyway. AND he had the audacity to charge schools and lifeboat stations?? This is not even good press, when he reveals even more of their grifting.

  3. SarahCS says:

    Wait for it – ‘sadly, owning to the decision to forfeit valuable revenue we are now unable to address any of the repairs and improvements we had intended to make to rental properties’.

    • Smart&Messy says:

      Oh he didn’t do that anyway! The earlier expose revealed that he took rent from govt institutions but the govt footed the bill for upkeep. It’s like the Buckingham Palace reno scam they’ve been running for years, with QE2’s full backing

  4. Miranda says:

    This amount of money is nothing to him. Tossing little pouches of gold to the peasants as he rides by, no doubt expecting them to grovel.

  5. Trying to make the slumlord sound good when it was something that should’ve been taken care of a long time ago!!

  6. Giddy says:

    What a great guy, right? Sorry, Willie, you’re still an avaricious slumlord.

  7. Eurydice says:

    Lol – it had taken the opportunity “to stop and reflect” since the story…

    No, dude – you got bitch-slapped when the world found out.

  8. Lauren says:

    Maybe some one from the UK can explain but it’s so weird to me that any of these buildings/sites were ever built on land owned by a third party. What other countries does that happen in?

    • Laura D says:

      @Lauren – in short. We can’t! Seriously, when after the Channel 4 documentary was aired people were shell-shocked. We all kinda knew the royals owned lots of land and premises but, very few were aware of how much they were ripping us all off. The royals are better off just doing what QEII did and that’s “never complain, never explain” because it would have been a brave journalist who would have revealed the grift while she was still alive.

      • Eurydice says:

        I think that might be what Williams wants – to go back to the good old days when you didn’t hear that much about the royals. No complaining, no explaining, they sort of puttered around and showed up for holidays and special royal days and pinning a medal on the occasional sheep, but it was kind of a sleepy public presence.

        The major problem is Harry and Meghan. If they weren’t out there being obviously useful and successful – well, it’s hard to sink into a life of peaceful mediocrity with them in the picture.

      • Laura D says:

        @Eurydice – ITA. As you say H&M are a huge problem for William as they are regularly in the news for working! Whether it’s promoting their numerous businesses or highlighting good causes. They’re also doing it without remunerations from the taxpayer.

        However, the bigger problem is William continues to create headlines for H&M by reacting negatively to any of their endeavours. If William just ignored everything his brother was doing then he might get away with slinking into the shadows and just turning up for “official” appointments. But, he doesn’t seem to be able to do this. Whether it’s through spite or embarrassment he has an unhealthy need to comment on everything H&M are doing. By doing so neither William or his advisors seem to realise, that all they’re doing is highlighting how little he does for his privileged lifestyle.

    • Betsy says:

      The reason the Duke of Westminster is so rich is because he owns half of central London.

  9. Jensa says:

    I’m sure he’ll be recouping these costs by increasing rents elsewhere.

  10. Maja says:

    That would be a good thing for real investigative journalism to check whether the waiver of the aforementioned rents is true. That would make more sense than spying on an innocent woman and her production facilities abroad.

    • Blogger says:

      Good point. Every time the rats pocket watch Meghan, the counter should be pocket watching Willy. He’s receiving taxpayer funds. He’s the one benefiting from the rents. The deflection writ large shows how broken the system is and how bad the Palaces are run,

      • Lady Digby says:

        💯 agree with both comments especially given heir’s lack of output. Why is it not a source of concern that he does a fraction of royal engagements that the rest of OAP RF carry out? Why is he not being properly scrutinized by the press for frequent luxurious holidays compared with his lack of royal duties? His 76 year old dad is on maintenance chemo and is still outperforming his perfectly healthy son? How is any of this not being properly covered in the press? Will Bax, secretary and keeper of the records of PoW’s Duchy of Cornwall admitted that the estate had reacted to “media scrutiny” by reviewing certain rentals. Proving conclusively that they were FORCED to act once publicly embarrassed. Please carry on exposing their chicanery!!

  11. Lady Digby says:

    The Times on Friday were crowing that their reportage had brought about these changes. It is important that both King and heir are held to account over both duchies. The Times even printed a letter stating that the duchies profits should ALL be deployed for the nation’s good. Also that the King as head of state should be paid a salary not given carte blanche over duchy income. I agree with the Republic view especially given the parlous state of UK’s financial situation. The monarch and his deputy heir should be on performance related pay and appropriate and audited expenses.

    • Blogger says:

      Surprised they’re printing this now, but The Times must be pissed The Telegraph is getting a lot of leaks from “Royal sources.”

      Let my enemy’s enemy is my friend continue.

      The Republic letter is so clear cut and the lack of visibility and public work from the Waleses can only help the movement. They truly are a catastrophe to the grey men.

    • kirk says:

      “King as head of state should be paid a salary not given carte blanche over duchy income.” What about the Crown Estate? If Chuck gets 25% of the annual profits of the Crown Estate, seems like he’ll “profit” handsomely from Marvel renting Great Windsor Park for filming of Avengers: Doomsday – https://feminegra.com/marvel-pays-king-charles-millions-for-windsor-location-shoot/

  12. Amy Bee says:

    At least William is capable of feeling some shame or least pretend to. I suspect there’s a real fear from William that people would start calling for the Duchy to be given to the UK.

  13. Lady Digby says:

    Asking for those troops in Estonia, did they get their fridge? Did the plum recipe get handed out? Any cancer charity get a large donation out of gratitude? Will going to attend a food bank with a large cheque in his hand? Asking for any proof that Scrooge like Will has been visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past and has indeed turned over a new leaf ?

  14. MSJ says:

    The feudal landlord system is alive and well for large swathes of lands under the royals. Collecting exorbitant incomes without paying taxes. Yet the establishment wants people to believe it a democracy. 🤷🏽‍♀️

    I think if the UK republic group focuses on unshackling the chains of feudal schemes that are limiting the UK people, they’d probably move faster towards a democracy and eventually a republic than they are moving at the moment.

    Dozens of Royal properties, hundreds of hectares of land and various other forms of wealth under one dysfunctional family who are able to influence and skirt the laws is mind blowing. The medieval age is still very much present and stifling modernization. 👀

  15. Lady Digby says:

    The government has declined to rule out a “wealth tax” after former Labour leader Neil Kinnock called for one to help the UK’s dwindling finances. Really they should also be reviewing the duchies ownership and deploying it’s profits for the good of the entire nation.

  16. IdlesAtCranky says:

    Interesting. Granular details of rents being forgiven, that all together add up to pence, not pounds.

    And as Kaiser and others point out, no mention of the most egregious offenses, such as Dartmoor Prison, moldy housing, the complete lack of transparency from KP on finances, or any move toward paying, you know, actual taxes…

    These people are running one of the most profitable grifts in history.

    This “change” is a sop to the public, so minimal within the context of the overall amounts of money being GIVEN to the “royals” by their subjects as to be actively offensive.

  17. Me at home says:

    He’s giving up an absolute pittance on an annual basis. That £125,000 over 25 years comes out to just £5,000 annually. And who knows what “thousands of pounds a year” means, but let’s be conservative and generous and say £8,000 annually. Hope this is readable.

    Total Over number Annual
    amount of years amount
    600 1 600
    15,000 50 300
    8,000 (guess) 1 8,000
    3,000 20 150
    8,000 (guess) 1 8,000
    125,000 25 5,000
    200 1 200
    ANNUAL TOTAL: 22,500

    Yes, slumlord billionaire is giving up a grand total of £22,250 pounds per year. And that’s if you assume those “thousands of pounds yearly” are £8,000 not £2,000 or £3,000. In which case his annual sacrifice would amount to £10,250 or £12,259.

    • Becks1 says:

      your 8k estimate is very generous, lol. i would say its probably something like 1500.

    • Me at home says:

      Sorry, realizing this is unreadable. There are three colums: (1) Total amount, (2) Over number of years, and (3) Annual amount (=Total amount divided by number of years).

    • Duch says:

      Thanks for calculating that. I was like “yay?” upon reading the headline. And I’m happy for those groups no longer having to pay rent.

      But yikes. This is a tiny amount really.

  18. QuiteContrary says:

    Is Willy digging a grave for the monarchy in that one photo? Hope so!

    Waiving these rental charges is literally THE LEAST he could do.

  19. Steph says:

    His humanitarianism knows no bounds 🙄

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