William to sell off parts of Duchy of Cornwall "for positive impact"

[BasiliskStare]

On the face of it (& I have read the article once so reserve the right to change my mind , be persuaded by those more knowledgeable than me or by other arguments ) this looks like a good thing - or maybe a good start. I'm sure W can manage nicely with the income from 80% of. £1bn Duchy 😊

I don't think this excuses him from not being transparent about finances , but am I being naive to think this is edging towards a good thing? I know there is an argument the Duchy is ill-gotten gains he shouldn't have in the first place. I'm quite pleased to see affordable housing in London referred to , which having a DS who lives in London , I'm very aware of. That's obviously personal to me though.

Anyway - for what it's worth - here's the article

archive.ph/qi1V9

As the royal expert was so determined to make a snide comment that he couldn't even get the line of succession right, he might not be the most reliable source

Can you expand on what he got wrong?

I believe other sources (just one example below ) reported the same account.

www.newsweek.com/prince-william-missed-opportunity-jimmy-carter-funeral-2012264

The Duke of Edinburgh is currently 15th in line to the throne.

To be fair, he may have meant that he was 14th at that point, but if so could have worded it more clearly.

Exactly yet when Meghan was said to be emailing staff outside of hours she was lambasted by people calling her a bully etc. It didn't matter when more sensible voices were saying what you said

Just highliting that there is a clear bias from people.

Same with calling outside of hours. William does it and noone says a thing. Meghan does it and its endless commentary.

You see that pattern...

So Eddie got promoted?

I want to old skool stylee LMFO but won't 😁

Meghan was said to be emailing and calling staff outside of hours AND shouting and berating them down the phone!!! Do you really think that is exceptable or professional? , honestly! 🙄

Now ! , now! 😉🤣🤣

One of the accounts I read stated that she repeatedly called and yelled at the employee until midnight over a period of hours.

As an American, I'm not offended by Edward attending the funeral. Carter was a devoted family guy who love his wife. I'm sure he would have understood. He was also a hundred and not active in politics.

William is both work shy and working a lot at times people deem inappropriate. Can he actually get anything right?

There is an attempted smear campaign currently. Whether started by the Sussexes or their supporters or others who want to destabilise the U.K., I don’t know, but it’s definitely there.

My theory, they are using what they hold to consolidate personal wealth, now preparing for a change to the monarchy in the future. Sorry, I don't believe William does as he should, but as he wants, including building his wealth aside from the monarchy.

Given the amount of thought that goes into diplomatic trips (and these trips are carried out on behalf of the government, not just RF decisions), I don't for one second believe that whether William or Edward went depended on someone's birthday.

There is an attempted smear campaign currently. Whether started by the Sussexes or their supporters or others who want to destabilise the U.K., I don’t know, but it’s definitely there.

The Windsors are doing a sterling job themselves of destabilising the establishment!

It is literally illegal for William to extract money from the Duchy and put it into his personal wealth. Money has to remain within the Duchy.

True however looking at the bigger picture...

Selling the farm and reinvesting it into something that generates higher returns than the farm did, the Duchy's annual surplus increases and that's the income William receives. He doesn't pocket the sale proceeds directly, but he does benefit from decisions that increase the Duchy's profitability.

Interesting he is suddenly all over this...finding ways to increase the profits that he can pocket. So there is something to say that this sudden involvement is a wya of him planning for a future of change.

He isn't pocketing the money. He's planning to spend it on housing and nature projects in his Duchy:

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/prince-william-sell-parts-royal-estate-reinvest-local-communities-2026-05-18/

I don't think rewilding, releasing beavers, building affordable housing, is going to make him a bundle.

I also don't think skipping the funeral of a hundred year old, long- retired president is a big deal. My sister lives near the Carter Center in Atlanta, and she didn't care who attended the funeral.

I don't think rewilding, releasing beavers, building affordable housing, is going to make him a bundle.

I think that depends on the kind of fees and licences the Duchy will undoubtedly have in the small print and which we (naturally) aren't and won't be privy to.

W hasn't hired a crack team of investment and other experts to look for ways to reduce his income.

While I approve of the rewilding/ beaver schemes they don't sit easy with the expansion of mining and mineral rights undertaken since he got his maulers on the reins. I also think he could look to the sub-standard housing already on the books as well as pushing to build.

I wonder if he's liable for the £7k penalty now in place for poor quality lets?

Since when have they done anything that doesn't generate a profit. Seriously. Its all about protecting their wealth we see it through all the ways in which laws favour them that ordinary people don't get.

Of course the Duchy is set up that any money made from selling something has to be invested but any surplus (profits) goes to William. Like any business it won't be a loss maker. Who would deliberately invest to reduce their profits?

20 months after illegal dumping began in Bickershaw the problems remain. The land is owned by the Duchy of Lancaster - it reverted to the Duchy when its owners couldn't be traced. What a surprise that the Duchy is able to slither out of any suggestion that it could possibly - out of the generosity of its heart and its deep pockets - pay for the cleanup. But no, it has no legal obligation unlike every other landowner in the country.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/14/illegal-dump-symbol-north-south-divide-makerfield-byelection

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5gprmznz6o

I’ve read that article and it seems only a small part has reverted to the duchy and they have stated they are working with Wigan council and after all the steps have been followed a clean up will commence.

They offered to sell the land to Wigan council at one point.
Can they not just for once decide to do a giant big PR exercise and say they will pay for it? Would that be too fanciful? Or else get KC3 there with a shovel and wheelbarrow and put his money where his mouth is and start cleaning it up himself!!

Although I appreciate your feelings, this ultimately is the fault of the council and local authorities who knew this illegal dumping had been going on for twenty years, yes I would be nice if the royal family stumped up but I imagine that this would snowball.

It's not 20 years @jeffgoldblum
The first lorries arrived in October 2024.

The Duchy inherited a third of the plot involved.

As discussed on the previous thread in January relating to the dump, like anyone else in the country* they are not obliged to accept an inheritance that comes with issues like this.

Waste disposal is the responsibility of local and central government; I can just imagine the political mess that would start if the Royal Family started to get involved.

(I say central government because there are other sites like this across the country, and joined-up thinking involving DEFRA is required.)

--

*No-one is obliged to take on an inheritance that they wish to refuse.

Disclaimers.
Where a person becomes entitled to an interest in settled property but disclaims the interest, then, if the disclaimer is not made for a consideration in money or money’s worth, this Act shall apply as if he had not become entitled to the interest.
Inheritance Tax Act 1984.

Apologies! , I thought this was the site where the previous owner had allowed dumping for a considerable amount of time before he either died or vanished! , however I stand by my previous points.

It’s just wishful thinking @bluegreygreen that the Duchy might just seize the moment and help out. Obviously that would never actually happen..