The Duchy of Lancaster , a controversial hereditary land and property estate that generates huge profits for King Charles, has collected tens of millions of pounds in recent years under an antiquated system dating back to feudal times.
Assets known as bona vacantia, owned by people who have died without a will or known next of kin, are collected by the duchy. In the past 10 years it has collected more than £60m in the funds. The duchy has long claimed that, after deducting costs, bona vacantia revenues are donated to charities.
However, only a small percentage of these revenues is going to charity. Internal duchy documents seen by the Guardian reveal how funds are secretly being used to finance the renovation of properties owned by the king and rented out for profit.
The duchy essentially inherits bona vacantia funds from people whose last known address was in a territory that in the middle ages was known as Lancashire county palatine and ruled by a duke. Today, the area comprises Lancashire and parts of Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Cumbria.
A leaked internal duchy policy from 2020 gave officials at the king's estate licence to use bona vacantia funds on a broad array of its profitgenerating portfolio. Codenamed. "SA9", the policy acknowledges spending the money in this way could bring "incidental" benefit to the privy purse, the king's personal income.
Properties identified in other leaked documents as eligible for use of the funds include town houses, holiday lets, cottages, a former petrol station and barns, including one used to facilitate pheasant and partridge shoots in Yorkshire.
Upgrades include new roofs, boilers and doors, and double glazing.
Esta historia es de la edición November 24, 2023 de The Guardian.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición November 24, 2023 de The Guardian.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
London rail stations to be shut for up to eight days over festive period
Some of London's main railway stations will be closed and train services diverted at Christmas time, Network Rail has said.
'Weekend warrior' workouts may provide same health boost as more regular exercise
If exercise takes a back seat in the working week, take heart. Cramming the recommended amount of weekly activity into weekends has significant health benefits, research suggests.
'Was there an attack?' Tel Avivians unfazed but hope fades for hostages
Air raid sirens blared in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning as, for the first time, Hezbollah fired a surface-to-surface missile at the coastal city. A few minutes later, beachgoers flooded the bustling promenade, playing volleyball, cycling and kite surfing.
Dotting the Es: abbey corrects spelling of Brontë in Poets' Corner after 85 years
An 85-year injustice has been rectified at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey with a correction to the spelling of one of the greatest of all literary names. Reader, it is finally Brontë, not Bronte.
OpenAI will restructure as for-profit company-report
OpenAI is reportedly pushing ahead with plans to become a for-profit company, after more senior figures left the developer of ChatGPT in the wake of the surprise exit of its chief technology officer, Mira Murati.
Starmer due to meet Trump in New York in bid to 'establish relationship'
Keir Starmer was due to meet Donald Trump in New York last night as part of a push to establish a good relationship with the Republican presidential candidate.
Starmer calls row over using peer's flat 'farcical'
Keir Starmer said yesterday that the row over him borrowing Labour donor Waheed Alli's luxury flat for filming was \"farcical\" and the public would come to their own judgments about his reasons for taking support from the peer.
New York's mayor charged with accepting bribes
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, was charged yesterday with accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources.
Netanyahu says Lebanon strikes will go on, despite ceasefire call
Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel “will not stop” its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon despite calls from the US, France and other allies for an immediate three-week ceasefire aimed at containing the spread of a conflict that is beginning to engulf Lebanon.
Lammers blow against United as Twente hit back to share spoils
When Manchester United click as they did here for large swathes, their attack features organised chaos and their defence is compact, as shown by their four clean sheets this season.