Can we do something about William and Charles profiting from the NHS etc ?

[Ukisgaslit]

If You haven’t seen it , the Times and Channel 4 Dispatches programme did some proper old fashioned investigative journalism and revealed how Charles and William via the Duchys are charging schools, the NHS and charities ( some they are patron of!) to use ‘their’ land.
It is not ‘their’ land - it is state land , as the crown estates are. The Duchys were overlooked in 1760 when George 111 handed his holdings over in return for annual handouts from the state - they were overlooked as they were worthless then.
They have made the Windsors billions since the mid 20th century and no corporation tax or capital gains tax paid. William recently refused to continue providing the little financial information that his father offered.

Aside from the obvious fact that the king is in a unique position, being above the law whether we like it or not ( though why is William treated as also above the law?) surely they are humiliated to be revealed as ripping off schools and charities and hospitals?

Where is the Windsor mea culpa and offer to repay with interest? Answer came there none.

So AIBU to expect MPs to please act and fold the Duchys into the crown estate ? The UK is in a weakened state and allowing this feudal greed to continue unchecked diminishes our society further .

@Grammarnut
Plus it’s not just a coronation- there will be a taxpayer funded funeral first .
The coronation as you say is religious . It is unnecessary. And what % of the UK are now practising COE ? A minority I think .
William has said that is not religious yet he will be made head of the COE .

The coronation is key to this whole issue of Windsors corruption and greed . It is unique in the West and most of the world in setting the Windsors above the law and the people - hence the ripping off of charities and hospitals
Its a straight line

And if the Windsors want it - they can pay .
Maybe we can clap for them on our doorsteps instead …

On the topic of leases, many of the Duchy properties are leased long-term on a tenant repairing basis. This was often the case in the private sector prior to the change in law in 1967 that didn't apply unniversally to Duchy properties. In these cases, the standard of the property would theoretically be the responsibility of the tenant not the landlord.

This also explains the high lease premiums on Duchy properties. These long leases have very low rents and so an incoming tenant needs to pay the outgoing tenant for the improvements they have carried out.

@Ukisgaslit Prince William has never said he is “not religious”.

@AzurePanda look it up

He is said to be ‘ not comfortable in a religious environment’
There are several different reports and his lack of interest in religion was raised in a recent book about Charles and the future.
We thought Charles and Camila being anointed was insult enough . William is not even spiritual never mind religious .
The daily mail has an article but I won’t link them
It’s actually a serious issue - or should be

https://www.newsweek.com/prince-william-church-england-abdicate-1861430

William says he wants to change things and be Royal with a small 'r'.

Personally I'd prefer it if he paid his tax with a capital 'T'. He has refused to disclose how much he pays on his Duchy income.

When Kensington Palace was asked why he refused to disclose how much (when his Father had done) we were told this was how he had opted to do it for now.
It doesn't bode well for him taking over the top job.

Non disclosure, and his new approach to work is to basically not do it.

@BustingBaoBun it has been confirmed that Prince William pays income tax on the earnings from the Duchy of Cornwall at the marginal rate of 45%. Tax is paid after deduction of expenses in line with tax law as is applied to other similar organisations.

@Ukisgaslit your claim that “Prince William has said he is not religious” is a falsehood. He has said no such thing. The claims you link to related to third hand reporting of an anonymous Palace source (which incidentally didn’t even claim that he has said he is not religious). Do you believe everything that is reported from anonymous Palace sources, including all the claims about Megham for example?

@AzurePanda
Did you read the comments from the queens former chaplain on this same issue ?

Peter Hitchens has also covered the issue - as he put it ‘ a spokesman for the palace ‘ informed Hitchens’ colleague Harfman (I think is the name ).

Its an issue - why are you so outraged ? It’s probably the only thing he has in common with other 40 year olds in the country.
However why we should pay millions for William to pretend his way through a religious ceremony he doesn’t believe in or be made head of a church he doesn’t believe in is a different question

Maybe William will have a road to Damascus conversion just before shiny hat day .

@AzurePanda

You are very quick to accuse others of falsehood - based on what exactly ?
Here is a link where you will find a quote for the queens former chaplain . Is that good enough for you ?

https://vision.org.au/news/could-prince-william-reject-being-head-of-the-church-of-england-as-king/

t has been confirmed that Prince William pays income tax on the earnings from the Duchy of Cornwall at the marginal rate of 45%. Tax is paid after deduction of expenses in line with tax law as is applied to other similar organisations.

No it hasn't. Unless something has happened very recently. The most I've seen is... 'he has paid an appropriate amount'
I wonder what he considers appropriate? If it's appropriate, why isn't he divulging the exact % and amount like his father did? There would be nothing to hide would there.

@AzurePanda

Here is relevant quote from the link :

The Queen’s former chaplain, Gavin Ashenden, said he should either accept the role or make way for someone else to take it on. “William doesn’t show any signs of being alive to the vibrancy of Christian faith“

@BustingBaoBun you’re correct, I made a mistake and it was Prince Charles as Duke of Cornwall who confirmed that he paid tax at the marginal rate of 45%.

@Ukisgaslit sorry, but you’re still
quoting third parties. Your original point that Prince Willliam had himself said that he wasn’t religious is untrue. I have no idea of the extent of the relationship between Prince William and the Queen’s former chaplain!

I’d say you can trust his word - don’t you ?

William is not even spiritual never mind religious

And Henry VIII was ?

@AzurePanda
Thank you

And we’re back to the 16th century

Henry v111 was catholic - the pope awarded him the ‘defender of the faith ‘ title .Rumour is he was still Catholic when he died and had extreme unction but who knows .
William doesn’t attend church apart from the pap walks twice a year and ‘senior palace sources’ and the queens chaplain seem to know of which they speak

William’s views are his own and he’s entitled to them. But he’s not entitled to make a mockery of the COE and of the taxpayer by imposing a coronation on us

The CofE seems perfectly capable of making a mockery of itself.

And in any discussion of the British monarchy, you can at least go back to 1066. Before that it's more a historical debate as to whether William I ("the bastard as I believe he called himself) counts as a legitimate heir to Edward the Confessor. Not that the answer makes the slightest bit of difference now.

It wasn't all bad with the Normans. They did abolish slavery in England. Which can win a bet depending who you are drinking with.

The cost of the coronations, only the second in over 70 years was far smaller than the cost of the US' president's inaugaration, which happens every four years.

Do you think the next coronation will be in 70 years? and why is the US the relevant comparator rather than any other country that does inaugurations rather more cheaply?

What? I certainly said that comparisons were not particularly relevant. I said nothing about taking money from another country to pay for a coronation. We can pay for our own.

Exactly. The US GDP is $37 trillion compared to ours.. £3 trillion.

No comparison. I think they can afford a 4 year inauguration more than us 🤣

The US has an elected monarch, who is executive and brings his own administration with him, although he/she can no longer completely replace the civil service, which is permanent.
The assembly is bi-cameral and each chamber has a speaker. I think in an emergency (e.g. the president and the vice-president are both either dead or unable to govern) the speaker of the House of Representatives can become president (but not certain on this).
France has an executive president. The president selects a prime minister to lead the legislature - he/she is not both president and prime minister.

No @Grammarnut

You said my reference to modest European inaugurations was irrelevant as ‘we do things our way’ or words to that effect . So no comparisons were valid in your opinion .

You then were happy to use the ( completely irrelevant ) system in the US as a comparator - warning we’d get an expensive US ceremony once we remove the Windsors .
It’s nonsense as we do not combine the role of president and PM . To compare properly you’d need to use an example of a country with a figurehead president .

I pointed out that the inauguration of a president every 4 years was more expensive than a coronation every 50 or so years - we've had 2 in the last 72 years. I chose the US because POTUS is an elected king (did you not know this?). He/she leads a republic, not a democracy.
I see no point in comparing a pre-Enlightenment constitution to post-Enlightenment/post-Napoleonic wars/post WW1 and 2 constitutions. It's comparing apples with pears.
And you are wrong about France - but I have pointed that out upthread.

@Grammarnut
Perhaps I was unclear. When I said ‘you were ‘happy to use another country ‘ I meant as an example ! Not to pay for our nonsense . The very idea ! is any country willing lol?

The US has an elected monarch,

Has anyone told them ?

Having been on and offline a bit today, it's impressive that there was still an even bigger load of bollocks waiting to be discovered, yet there we are.

You were. But never mind. If you want to compare coronations you should look outside of Europe.