£50M ROYAL PROBE
King Charles and Prince William’s estates set to rake in £50million from NHS hospitals and schools
The Ministry of Justice pays the Duchy of Cornwall £1.5million a year to use Dartmoor prison
ESTATES owned by King Charles and Prince William are set to rake in at least £50million from public services including hospitals and schools, it was reported last night.
The King’s Duchy of Lancaster and his son’s Duchy of Cornwall top up earnings by renting out buildings or land, a five-month investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and the Sunday Times shows.
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Examples include a contract worth £11million over 15 years for a hospital trust to use a central London warehouse for its ambulance fleet.
In January last year, the Duchy of Lancaster said it was “pleased to be of assistance” when Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust needed to find garage space.
A press release said the duchy had granted the hospital trust a redbrick 1960s warehouse close to Tower Bridge.
In fact, the contract shows the NHS is paying rent of £829,348 a year.
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However, royal expert and author Phil Dampier was quick to defend Charles and Wills, insisting: “The Royal Family costs taxpayers very little — less than £2 a person per year. Money it generates from its activities to sustain its buildings and land adds to the monarchy’s appeal and long-term sustainability.”
The investigation found that the Dorset Fire Authority was charged an upfront £612,000 to lease land over 125 years for a new fire station.
Devon county council, it was revealed, pays £300 a year — amounting to £15,000 over its 50-year lease — to use a fire station in Princetown, on Dartmoor.
The Ministry of Justice pays the Duchy of Cornwall £1.5million a year to use Dartmoor prison, after signing a 25-year deal in 2022 worth at least £37.5million.
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The Duchy of Cornwall struck a deal in 2017 to charge Devon county council at least £319,000 in rent over 21 years for the right to use Princetown Community Primary School, on Dartmoor.
Six other state schools were also found to make payments to the Prince of Wales’ private estate worth nearly £600,000 over the lifetime of the leases.
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The Duchy, which owns 67,500 acres of Dartmoor, is charging the military to train there while the Navy is paying more than £1million to build and use jetties and to moor warships.
It was also reported that charities, including ones with Royal patronage, were paying fees, too.
In 2011, Charles struck a deal to charge St John Ambulance, of which the King is now patron, a one-off payment of £60,000 to lease a garage in Poundbury, the model town his Duchy built in Dorset.
And since 2005 the Royals have received a share of the rent from Camelford House, an office block in London owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.
Sources said it was nicknamed “charity towers” because so many, including Macmillan Cancer Support, the hospice charity Marie Curie, Comic Relief, have rented offices there.
The King is patron of Macmillan and Marie Curie, while William has promoted Comic Relief.
The Duchy has received at least £22million from a share of the rents, the vast majority of which were paid before the King passed its control to William.
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A spokesman for the Duchy of Lancaster pointed out: “The Duchy of Lancaster operates as a commercial company, managing a broad range of land and property assets across England and Wales.
“It complies with all relevant UK legislation and regulatory standards applicable to its range of business activities.”
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