Duchy 'making money from lifeboat stations'

INVESTIGATION SHOWS MONEY CHARGED FOR RNLI BASES

- OLIVIER VERGNAULT

PRINCE William's Duchy of Cornwall makes money from life-saving RNLI lifeboats in Cornwall, it has been claimed. An investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches programme has shown the extent of the money King Charles and Prince William make through their Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall respectively.

Last year the Duchy of Lancaster generated £27.4 million for the King and the Duchy of Cornwall raised £23.6 million for William. As the investigation revealed, between the two duchies, King Charles and Prince William are making millions of pounds each year by charging government departments, councils, businesses, mining companies and even the NHS a series of commercial rents and levies, dating back hundreds of years, including from charities they are patrons of like the RNLI.

The Duchy of Cornwall' various sources of income include rent from lifeboat stations in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The report showed that lifeboat stations in Salcombe, Sennen Cove, the Lizard, Rock, Penlee near Penzance and St Mary's in the Scillies have to pay £600 a year in total to go over the beaches the Duchy owns to answer lifesaving calls or even for training.