Prince William to Sell Duchy Land in £500m Plan
Prince William is preparing to sell off around 20% of the Duchy of Cornwall over the next decade as part of an overhaul designed to tackle housing shortages and nature decline, with the Prince of Wales aiming to invest £500 million into those priorities.
LBC reported that the Duchy provides the 25th Duke of Cornwall with nearly £23 million a year in private income, funding the charitable, private and official lives of the Prince and Catherine, the Princess of Wales, as well as their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The broadcaster said the Prince intends to consolidate the estate around five geographic “heartlands”: the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Dartmoor, the Bath area and Kennington in south London, following reporting in The Times. Will Bax, chief executive of the Duchy of Cornwall, said the organisation “shouldn’t just exist to own land” and should instead “have a positive impact on the world”.
In recent days the Prince has also been seen carrying out public duties around football, including joking with Pep Guardiola during the FA Cup medal presentations, as his private estate strategy attracts renewed attention.
Mr Bax said the £500 million package would be made up of land sales, development income, partnerships and borrowing, with £160 million earmarked for housing initiatives including affordable homes in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall and Kennington. The plans follow criticism earlier this year from some Duchy tenants in Devon who said they were “enormously stressed” about proposals to sell land at the Bradninch estate near Cullompton.
