In 2024, there were several media-led investigations into the Duchy of Lancaster and Duchy of Cornwall. Lancaster is effectively the monarch’s piggy bank, while Cornwall provides millions of pounds annually for the heir. Many people probably believed that both duchies made most of their income from commercial real estate. As it turns out, that was not the case at all. Both duchies charge exorbitant amounts of “rent” from British citizens and taxpayers in many different ways. It’s not just slumlording moldy old rentals, although that’s a significant revenue stream. The duchies also charge the taxpayers for stuff like “parking garages for ambulances” and “the Navy’s use of Britain’s seabeds.” One of the most egregious cases involves Dartmoor Prison. While the Duchy of Cornwall doesn’t own the prison, they “own” the land on which the prison sits, and they bill the taxpayer so that the prison can “rent” the land. Dartmoor Prison has been uninhabited for nearly two years because of radon. Guess who’s still making a profit?
The Prince of Wales has received millions of pounds of public money from an abandoned prison that was closed due to toxic gas levels. The Duchy of Cornwall, the estate which provides a private income for Prince William, owns HMP Dartmoor and has leased it to the Ministry of Justice for £1.5 million a year since December 2023. Over the past 20 months, the lease has generated at least £2.5 million in income.
The category-C prison in Devon has been empty since July 2024 after high levels of radon, a toxic gas that occurs naturally in soil and rocks and can cause lung cancer, were recorded in prisoners’ accommodation. Dartmoor is one of 42 prisons and probation sites in the UK with high radon levels, and the Ministry of Justice now faces the prospect of legal claims from 750 former prison guards and inmates after being exposed to the gas.
The Duchy of Cornwall, which was created in the 14th century for the monarch’s male heir, refused to confirm whether it was reviewing its rental agreement with the government or how much tax William had paid on the lease income. The Duchy said: “The lease of HMP Dartmoor reflects long-standing arrangements governing the site and was negotiated on a standard commercial basis with both parties taking independent advice. We remain in regular contact with the Ministry of Justice, as it determines the future of the prison.”
William is a top-rate taxpayer who voluntarily pays income tax on the surplus profits he receives from the 52,000-hectare estate but has been criticised for not disclosing how much. The King released this information when he was Prince of Wales.
Dartmoor was revealed as the most lucrative taxpayer-funded source of income for the Duchy after a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches revealed the assets owned by the royal property empires. The Duchy Files showed that the King and William had made millions of pounds a year by charging the army, navy, NHS and schools to use their land, rivers and seashores.
Radon levels in parts of the prison were found to be ten times the legal limit in 2020 and 2023, leading to its closure. Dartmoor has fallen into disrepair since staff were ordered to leave. There have been infestations of rats, birds, bats and insects after windows were left open to increase ventilation, according to a prison report.
An estimated £4 million a year is spent on private security, improving ventilation and business rates. Under a “dilapidations clause” inserted into the lease agreed between the government and Duchy, the taxpayer is liable to spend up to £68 million over the course of the lease. The earliest that HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is allowed to exit the lease is December 2033.
MPs on the public accounts committee concluded in January that the decision to renew the lease was taken “in a blind panic” by senior civil servants looking to guarantee prison places. The government has admitted that it was aware of the prison’s radon levels when it decided to sign the lease in 2023.
I’ve cited the Dartmoor issue before, even when William was furiously trying to switch up some of the duchy’s taxpayer-fleecing. Last year, the Duchy made a big announcement about how they would no longer charge taxpayers for playgrounds or fire stations, but they neglected to speak on Dartmoor or the many residential rentals in shoddy, inhumane conditions. William and the Duchy have been trying to ignore the growing public outrage that they’re still profiting from an uninhabitable and out-of-operation prison. By the way, as long as we’re talking about the Duchy of Cornwall, why is William suddenly liquidating duchy assets?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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