Duchy of Lancaster Theft

[Roussette]

Just when I thought I could not be more taken aback at some of the practices undertaken by our Monarchy, and the sheer greed.

I then read this article. Bottom line.... anyone who dies intestate in Lancashire, and parts of Merseyside, Grtr Manchester, Cheshire and Cumbria... their assets are scooped up by the Duchy of Lancaster who has collected more than £60M over the last 10 years. Not charity as is the norm.. but into the pocket of our King You need to read the article to see what he actually does with it and how it benefits his personal income.

The article explains it well and will answer any questions and queries about it.

Someone yesterday accused me of 'despising' the RF. I disagreed but I am beginning to wonder if that poster was right. Especially when I read something like this.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/23/revealed-king-charles-secretly-profiting-from-the-assets-of-dead-citizens?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Yes I agree it’s a sop but the sudden backtracking and this announcement is unusual from the ‘royals’
They clearly feel they need to respond and this is as far as they are willing to go.

More outrage and they may be forced to do more

Nothing will change if people passively accept ‘Charles knows best ‘

There are some real pearls in this thread:

Everyone already knew about bona vacantia. Nothing to see here. After all you learn about it in your land law training. And yet the Royal PR has reached fast to yesterday's article.

People who die intestate are thick and deserve our scorn no matter how vulnerable or what their circumstances were.

6 million is not much at all. I know some people think that all mumsnetters are loaded... anyone who has some millions they won't miss please PM me!

The money is going to charity (but only 15%), for building maintenance (so KC can make private income through rents) and for wholesome pursuits (pheasant shoots which are an economic powerhouse). This is good because royals know best They are doing us a favour by handling these complex matters. Saving the public money! Remember to be grateful.

Subservient. The word I was after is subservient.

I didn't know much about this, so won't comment on the article itself, but the only one making logical sense to me, and which I can understand, is Serenster posts, they are backed up with links which confirm that she knows what she is talking about. Prince Charles' announcement about changes to the Duchy of Lancaster to bring it in line with the Duchy of Cornwall, is exactly what Serenster said a few pages back.

The high drama really isn't such a high drama after all.

Thank you @DewinDwl

An excellent summary .

Spot on, @DewinDwl Blows my mind how people just accept the status Quo because it doesn't affect them.

So they invest the money to accrue interest (we have no idea yet if that is added to the dead persons estate or kept by the Duchy, it appears it is kept by the Duchy), then they employ a law firm to track down deceased person's rellies, if there are any, then they take those costs out of the deceased person's estate and if no one turns up, keep the rest. 😲

…which is exactly the same process used by the Treasury Solicitor too….and likely every other jurisdiction in the world which also takes possession of bona vacantia (which is to say, most of them).

@Serenster

Good god - I’m glad the state invests it ! Charles invests it to increase his own wealth !
Can’t you see the difference ?

All jurisdictions need to deal with intestate estates

How many jurisdictions have a ‘king’ pocketing said estates for his own profit?

how ridiculous, you don't even know what the conversation is about if you haven;t read all the articles but you're sure Serenster has it right. Honestly, read it for yourself and make up your own mind! The links aren't that relevant to the topic, which is about the Duchy of Lancaster! The Duchy of Lancaster announcement is about the investment funds, and shifting them to ethical funds, they're not changing the collection of assets or how they use them! this thread wasn't about which investment fund the Duchy uses. Seriously, read the article so you can understand what we're actually talking about.

You've nailed it there.

The bit that got to me was the scorn poured on those who don't make Wills, even though posters (me included) have explained why that might not happen.

And how did they manage to generate just £500 quid on £10m?!

That's quite an achievement even at bottomed out rates.

It’s not really that complicated I don’t think? The answer is likely to be:

(a) historically low rates of interest and
(b) those entries record monies received over the course of the financial year, and also interest earned on the receipts in that financial year.

So if a lot of the receipts are in the final quarter of your financial year, for example, they will only have been earning interest for a couple of months, not a full year.

(what I was more interested in is the fact that the Duchy of Lancaster doesn’t record these on its main balance sheet, they are accounted for separately - so the money isn’t mingled with its general funds)

I know, what a ridiculous argument to have.

Charles is collecting to benefit himself and his family.

The state collects for all our benefit.

A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE

The high drama really isn't such a high drama after all

It's high drama enough to be reported on by many media outlets, including those that are very Monarchy supporting media.

Crumbs! Really? So... whilst they take the costs of administering this out of a deceased person's estate, we have to think they are noble for paying staff?

I didn’t say noble. I just said its’ not a cost to the taxpayer.

Law firms who deal with wills and probate do exactly this too - and charge you profit costs as well to pay their staff and overheads.

yes I was unimpressed by it too. Theres a lot of snobbery on this board sometimes. You're not a better human being if you have the knowledge or means to understand these types of things. You're privileged. Privileged people making snide remarks about people with less, be it less money, specialist knowledge or less ability to take care of themselves, is a very bad look.

£150 is the cheapest will writing service I could find- that didn't leave the cost to a charity- and a lot of people don't have that. If you have a small amount to leave behind, then people will decide not to bother and their small amount isn't worth it. Some of them will assume, like in other countries, the state will take it and use for the public. Theres no need for any of the scorn on this thread.

I just said its’ not a cost to the taxpayer.

Its not a cost to them either. Costs are deducted.

So it shouldn't be!

Honestly! They are deducting money from deceased people's Estates to look for any relatives that might exist, to use the money not all of it for refurbishing commercial and other properties, whereby the rental is for Charles's pocket!

I do know about Wills and Probate, more than you maybe realise.

And thank God for Freedom of the press, right?

Wouldn't want anyone to try to legally gag what can be reported and when 😁.

‘Royal’ staff are already a cost to the taxpayer so you are wrong to say it isn’t a cost .

This issue isn’t going away . I’ve rarely seen such a quick response from the palace . I know it’s a sop but how often do they even deign to offer a sop !
There is probably a lot more to be uncovered

There was a thread about this the other day, I think the conclusion was to write a will

<bangs head on table and gives oneself a headache>

We do know that. We have explained throughout this thread why that might not happen. I can link to the posts on it if you like.

Someone comes along and solves the whole thing in one sentence.

absolutely not. At the same time we don't want tabloids to hack phones, bug peoples homes, or harass people for nonsense stories about wedding dresses etc. Things that are in the public interest to know about, like this story, is absolutely what should be reported though. Are you going to read it?

It does t solve it

The bad smell from this whole rip off is lingering

Thanks for opening a really informative thread, @Roussette
Lots to mull over here.