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 .

@UndermyShoeJoe
And who keeps the profits ?

The dutchy got a third of the rents from that particular building.

A company is a company at the end of the day all companies exist to make money.

Why are you being hostile in your reply, whats that about?

I asked a question, wasnt answered the first time, asked again and you seem to be arsey about that, why?

I dont have any figures, I just saw the thread and was interested in it so wanted to know more, is that ok?

Some useful explanation here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/05/who-owns-and-profits-from-the-duchies-of-lancaster-and-cornwall-timeline

As long as the RF have the income from the Duchys, is it right that they also have a sovereign grant?

They took it centuries ago.
Duchys were a mini kingdom . Most disappeared
When George 111 went bankrupt in 1760 he handed all his lands to the state in return for an annual payout . The Duchys were worthless and weren’t included so the current lot now pocket billions and somehow are not subject to the law either - some get out clause though how it applies to William I’d like to know. He isn’t head of state

I was interested to read a parliamentary report from before WW1 where MPs wanted to reform the Duchys then! It went away …

@soupfiend
I apologise . I am fielding lots of questions and I suggest you watch Dispatches . Lots more detail there than I can supply

@UndermyShoeJoe
Yes companies make profits but the Windsors act as companies but do not pay tax on those profits as other companies must do

Looked this up and it’s NOT actually state property. It’s owned by the reigning monarch for the duration of their reign and managed by an estate board. The profits are all given to the Treasury who then decide how much the crown may have via a sovereign grant. So, if you charged less, they’d generate less money for the Treasury, who may maintain the grant at the same level (ie the treasury would get a smaller portion) or could reduce the grant.

This seems to be an issue for the government to sort out - ie Labour could advocate to the estate boards for lower fees or to veto charges to schools/the NHS etc and/or adjust the sovereign grant accordingly.

Great thread @Ukisgaslit
Down with our medieval money grabbing monarchy😡👎🏻

@CautiousLurker01

It is held ‘in right of the crown’. The crown being the state in this case
If the Windsors left would they take the crown estates with them ? No
Parli has established that they are state assets .
The Duchys need to be treated as such too . It’s not just the scandal of the Windsors making profits from state bodies but the vague legal status of the Duchys cannot continue .

I find the whole RF loadsa money (ages me!) issue an embarrassment.

the multiple houses they don’t live in

the royal trains they don’t use

the servants they don’t pay decent wages to

the taxes they don’t pay

the ridiculous uniforms they parade around in wearing medals they haven’t earned

etc

The scroungers have had their day, they need to be ousted.

In simple terms, if someone resident in Cornwall dies without a will or any relatives, their estate goes to the Duke of Cornwall, not the Crown Estate (UK Gov) as in other areas.

Why so many of the people of this country want rich land owners protected from the taxes they themselves are forced to pay is literally beyond me.

I knew Charles, and now William, made millions annually from the Duchy estate but that it be at the expense of their 'people' and charities is nothing short of shameful.

Fair play to C4 for highlighting this.

The public need to know.

I agree @viques but what has shocked me is the lack of response to the Dispatches revelations. With a few exceptions the media has been silent and as for the Windsors - they assume bread and circuses will keep us quiet .
Yes I know the queen did the same and it was covered up ( apart from the Panama papers), I know we saw Andrew protected ( Elizabeth used Duchy money to pay off his accuser) how much more will we learn about these medieval remnants before something is done ?
Im not saying remove them , though I’d support that , but at least reform this feudal system that we are living with in 2025 and take the Dutchys off the Windsors
Really the scandal is why aren’t William and Charles apologising and making amends ?
The nhs and charities paying out to the Windsors hits hard but there is much more . They should not be above the law .

They are private estates. They are run as a business

It’s not something Ican get excited about, the nhs wastes far more elsewhere
and all that uses the estates at the moment can also look to move elsewhere should they wish to

@Vaxtable
If they are private estates why do they not pay their taxes ?

I always find it interesting that, whenever an anti-royal thread is started, there'll very quickly be a handful of "so what, they're great and what about...." posts that arrive very quickly. I love a good conspiracy theory, but my suspicion is that the Royals have a very reactive PR agency who jump on these things straight away.

And William and his "I want to end homelessness" just needs to get in the bin. I mean, who is advising them that homelessness, of all things (given their huge unused property portfolio) is a good look for them. They are a bloody grasping disgrace and I'd get rid of the lot of them tomorrow if I could.

Why? They never bought that land.

Do you support the law that a Welsh man can be legally shot with a bow and arrow if found in Chester between midnight and 9am? No, because it's archaic bullshit that belongs in the distant past, as does the feudal system.

I can't believe that this literal 1066 bullshit still stands and people just swallow it.

Who donate it to charity for the support of people in Cornwall.

Having a head of state because of an accident of birth is just embarrassing. It could have been bloody Andrew.
And these financial shenanigans are beneath contempt.
But still the masses wail “oh, but they bring in so much tourist money.” No, they don’t.
Or my favourite “Oh, but they only cost each person tuppence ha’penny a year.” Maybe, if you don’t include the cost of their security…which we aren’t allowed to know.
They are ridiculous, both individually and as an institution. We can only hope the scale of these financial manipulations wake a few more people up to what’s going on.

The scale of the reform needed feels overwhelming which is why I am focussing on this one abuse which has most recently been reported on ( Dispatches channel 4)

and @ajandjjmum we were told that the Duchy of Lancaster gave the bona vacantia money to charity but look how that ended up !
The Windsors simply pocketed the money until recent years when after another outrage they declared it will go to charity .
So hopefully more reform is possible

By my god it’s slow

I suspect many of the people who voted YABU have not seen the C4 Dispatches programme or read the Sunday Times article on this. It really is eye opening even for those who are not anti-monarchist to begin with.

You might be on to something there !

A poster worried that ‘Putin’ was influencing social media users against the monarchy but not a thought to how most of the UK media approaches the Windsors . When are they held to account ?

I am grateful to work of the journalists on the Times and Dispatches but I wish it wasn’t so unusual to see proper journalism applied to the state of things here