Push to abolish private estates of King, William
British anti-monarchy campaigners want the private estates of the King and Prince of Wales abolished and replaced with a new national estate to benefit the “common good”.
The King receives an annual private income from the Duchy of Lancaster landed estate of £27 million ($A54 million), while Prince William is entitled to more than £23 million ($A46 million) a year from the Duchy of Cornwall.
Campaign group Republic, which backs an elected British head of state, wants the government to abolish the ancient duchy portfolios and pass all revenue and assets to a new national estate to support local communities.
Republic proposes that the King, while he is head of state, “should receive a salary”.
The campaign group suggests this could be 110 per cent of the prime minister’s salary – a drop from £27 million ($A54 million) a year to about £190,000 ($A379,000).
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“William has no official role and needs no salary from the state,” the group said.
“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,” Republic’s report, Ditch the Duchies, states.
“The national estate’s purpose will be the common good, not lining the pockets of two royals.”
The report said the King’s income was more than 159 times that of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
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In November, a media investigation into the duchies found the estates have struck rental agreements worth millions of pounds with the armed forces, the National Health Service and state schools.
The Duchy of Lancaster is land, property and assets that have been the personal estate of the reigning monarch since 1399. It spans more than 18,000 hectares of land in England and Wales and comprises commercial, agricultural and residential properties.
It gives the monarch a source of income for funding – in the form of the net surplus – his private activities and some official expenditure. 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. Its 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 in London and more than 27,000 hectares of Dartmoor.
The Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall declined to comment.
