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

😂'let's not derail this thread with how popular William is'😂

Of course that might be a derail LOL.

It's all fine and dandy though to hope he will be seen as a crap King who lacks warmth, dear oh dear !

It'll be in the younger generations' hands soon. Hopefully, they'll be a lot more progressive in their decisions.

'that makes Harry & Meghan very popular'

A derail, No?

I was asked where I 'got my information' , despite what some people think it's well known, it wasn't something I just pulled out of the air, as much as some people would love to deny his popularity.

This thread is not about William.

Please tell that to whoever brought him up negatively, I was responding to that comment!

It's not about Harry and Meghan either, I think you were the first to mention them.

I think it best if we don't discuss this any more. I would just ask you to not derail as you have said you have done 'for the craic'.

Many thanks.

I’m so sorry @Roussette and everyone. I mentioned William first saying he was cold . It was off topic and I’ve reported my own post to be deleted .

I do not want to do anything to derail this interesting thread .

I replied to your catty and dismissive ‘question’ with a similar catty and dismissive response. You can try to claim it was a purposeful derail, but that was not the case. I was replying to you in the same vein as you!

Someone who is posting 'all for a bit of craic' is not interested in the thread subject. Let's leave it please, as I suggested earlier

Many thanks.

Here is another article. It appears that funds from one of the three Duchy of Lancaster charities that benefited from bona vacantia used the money for this...

The Duchy of Lancaster Jubilee Trust has received £5.4m in bona vacantia revenues since 2013. More than 99% of its payouts over that period have gone to maintaining the Savoy chapel.

The Savoy Chapel is in Westminster next to the Savoy Hotel. Hardly local is it...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/24/kings-estate-facing-questions-over-14m-in-bona-vacantia-not-donated-to-charity?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Duchy accounts suggest it has collected £61.8m in bona vacantia funds over the last decade. Of those, only £9.3m or 15% of the total has gone to charities. Now there are fresh questions about a further £14m, earmarked for charitable causes, but seemingly not donated. The duchy is refusing to explain why the funds have not been transferred to charities.

Thanks for that @Roussette this part really struck me:

There are plaques on the walls recognising philanthropic donations from illustrious benefactors such as Harriet De Wint and King George VI. yet there are no signs marking the contributions from thousands of deceased northerners whose assets – known as bona vacantia – maintain the chapel.

Also, as the costs of this were mentioned previously, giving praise to the monarch for releasing us of this burden:

Almost half of bona vacantia revenues – £29.5m over the last decade – have been spent by the duchy on what it calls “costs of palatinate administration and historical obligations”. The administrative costs are understood to be a reference to the operation of the bona vacantia system, including solicitors’ fees.

This lays out what the charities received,:

*The oldest of the trio of charities is the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund, which over the last 10 years has received £1.7m in bona vacantia funds...
It distributed the money to youth work charities, bursaries for a grammar school that charges boarding fees, churches, clerics as well as the king’s own charity, the Prince’s Trust, which received £6,500 over three years.

The Duchy of Lancaster Jubilee Trust has received £5.4m in bona vacantia revenues since 2013. More than 99% of its payouts over that period have gone to maintaining the Savoy chapel.

The third charitable recipient of bona vacantia funds is the Duke of Lancaster Housing Trust, set up in 2007 with the express aim of providing rural affordable housing. It owns 38 properties, according to its latest accounts. Two-thirds of the properties are rented to tenants with a Duchy of Lancaster connection.

Several of the trust’s properties have been purchased from the duchy itself.
Between 2011 and 2013, the duchy gave £3.3m in bona vacantia funds to the housing trust. Over the following two years, the trust then bought eight properties from the duchy costing in total £1.3m.
The three charities have received £9.4m in bona vacantia funds in total from the Duchy of Lancaster. However, that leaves £14m that has not been paid out to charity but instead appears to have been put aside by the king’s estate.*

The Benevolent Fund sounds good and worthy.

The Jubilee Trust??? So millions of pounds from deceased people from the Duchy area is used to upkeep a Private chapel in the West End of London. Doesn't seem right to me. If it was a Castle in the area covered by the Duchy of Lancaster... fine. But it isn't.

The other charity has me completely confused.

Several of the trust’s properties have been purchased from the duchy itself.
Between 2011 and 2013, the duchy gave £3.3m in bona vacantia funds to the housing trust. Over the following two years, the trust then bought eight properties from the duchy costing in total £1.3m.

So The late Queen gave some of the bona vacantia to a trust, that then used some of those funds to purchase properties from her... that's handy.

@Iwantcakeeveryday

I also find that this very resonant :

“there are no signs marking the contributions from thousands of deceased northerners whose assets – known as bona vacantia – maintain the chapel.”

Sometimes it’s these small seemingly inconsequential points which reveal a deeper truth .
The monarchy’s wealth was and is built off the backs of the people. But the daily propaganda ignores that of course .

And it’s no wonder so many posters have had no idea that the Windsors pocketed the estates of the deceased . You have to hunt for information on the Windsors and even when you find something there a misleading record .
“The money goes to charity now ‘ ( it didn’t use to - that change was brought about by public pressure )
Oh what charity ? …. My own pocket mainly ..

That sounds like a very clever wheeze. Bit like Highgrove and Charles paying £700K rent per year to the Duchy of Cornwall, which now goes into William's pocket but up until the Queen's death, he was paying the Duchy, i..e. himself without any deductions for tax.
Clever!!!

Its the Duke of Lancaster housing trust.... they gave it some of the money to then buy properties from them and rent them out.

Sounds like the infamous trees all over again ...

I was wondering that, but then thought... surely not!!!

So.... taking wealth from the North West to fund naice projects in London. Some old, same old.

Why would you like to assume that ? because I gave you a sarky reply to your sarky comment ?

My original comment about Williams popularity was in response to someone else, i.e. a derail by your standards, nothing to do with the thread subject at all.

Anyway, my interest in the thread subject has nothing to do with the so called thread 'derail' by another poster.

Very relieved to leave it at that!

The 38Degrees petition is doing well.

So millions of pounds from deceased people from the Duchy area is used to upkeep a Private chapel in the West End of London. Doesn't seem right to me. If it was a Castle in the area covered by the Duchy of Lancaster... fine. But it isn't.

The Savoy Chapel isn’t private - anyone can visit it. I’ve walked past it a lot and always meant to go in! It’s on the site of John Of Gaunt’s original Savoy Palace, on the Banks of the Thames near the current Savoy Hotel.

Hence its link to the Duchy of Lancaster - John of Gaunt, a son of Edward III, married Blanche of Lancaster who was the heiress of all the Lancaster lands which included the land along the Strand in London from current Somerset House back to the Savoy Hotel. It therefore came into the Royal Family, and was the London home of John of Gaunt. It has stayed with the Duchy ever since. So it may not be in Lancaster, but it absolutely part of the core of the Duchy. (I first learned all this from reading Katherine by Anya Seton, by the way 😀).

The chapel itself doesn’t date back to John of Gaunt though - Henry VII built it.

https://www.royalchapelsavoy.org/