King Charles III and Prince William under fire after investigation into their assets

For the British royal family, money is king. It is once again at the heart of controversies concerning a lack of transparency of their income and assets. Several British media outlets have revealed that Charles III and Prince Harry earn several million pounds in income from renting land for public services while being exempt from certain taxes.

The exact extent of holdings and details of contracts, such as rental leases, entered into by the Duchy of Lancaster, owned by Sovereign Charles III, and the Duchy of Cornwall, owned by Crown Prince William, are not public. An investigation by Channel 4 and the Sunday Times published in recent days has made serious revelations about their income and assets.

No taxes for everyone

These are millions of pounds of revenue received by the two duchies from lucrative land rental contracts to the NHS, the public health system currently in crisis after years of underfunding, to ministries or charities. But that’s not all. The investigation reveals that at the same time, Charles and his son William, who have land, property and other assets across England and Wales, pay no corporation tax or capital gains tax.

Actions that former MP for the centrist Liberal Democrats and long-time critic of the royal family, Norman Baker, denounces and describes as a “scam” to the public. “These are Crown lands which belong to the public (…) all this money should go to the ‘Crown Estate'”, the Crown heritage whose revenues have been returned to the Public Treasury since a law dating from 1760 , he complains to AFP.

Charles III, rich with a fortune of 610 million pounds

The royal family assures that the profits from the duchies of Lancaster of Cornwall finance the public, charitable and private activities of the sovereign and his heir. Previously, the two duchies generated very little income, but two centuries later, they are valued at around 1.8 billion pounds (2.16 billion euros), and last year raked in 50 million pounds in revenue. profits, according to their annual report. King Charles III is today one of the richest people in the United Kingdom with a personal fortune said to amount to 610 million pounds.

For his part, William signed a contract worth 37.5 million pounds over more than 25 years with the Ministry of Justice to rent the land on which Dartmoor Prison is located. After this investigation, Graham Smith, head of the anti-monarchist group Republic, denounced “how the duchies seek profit wherever they can, to the detriment of the public”.

The royal family contests

But Charles III and William reject any fault. However, this is not the first time that the royal family has faced doubt surrounding its properties and income. In 2006, a parliamentary commission looked into their tax exemptions enjoyed by the royal family on their assets. Seven years later, she demanded more control from the Treasury over the finances of the Duchy of Cornwall. For David Haigh, director of the financial consultancy firm Brand Finance, the duchies operate like “any large estate owned by an aristocratic family”.