Latest news with #Duchy
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
King Charles' old country home hits market for £4.5m - and he can still visit
The Edwardian country home was once owned by King Charles II and is set within the heart of Dartmoor National Park, with the monarch still having the right to fish there A breathtaking country estate previously belonging to King Charles has hit the market for £4.5 million – and he retains visiting rights, as long as he provides 24 hours' notice. Tucked away in the heart of Dartmoor National Park lies Brimptsmead Estate, an Edwardian country home originally built as a private hunting lodge. Sold by the King in 1993, His Majesty still holds fishing rights on the property, requiring just 24 hours' advance warning – meaning the new proprietor might find themselves sharing these gorgeous surroundings with royalty. Encircled by land still mostly owned by the Duchy, estate agents have hailed the property as a "truly rare opportunity to own freehold land in one of the most protected and treasured landscapes in the UK". Spanning nine acres, the main residence has been "exquisitely restored" and features six bedrooms, five bathrooms, and numerous living spaces across 5,984sq ft, reports Devon Live. The estate also includes two cottages, a granite-built party barn and extensive garaging, according to Luxury Property News. The unnamed seller has waxed lyrical about the historic abode, calling it a "beauty and deep tranquillity" haven. They were drawn to an interview in London after showing interest in buying the property back in the 90s. The restoration was a labour of love, with "every decision made with authenticity in mind". Upgrades include bespoke leaded windows, bronze door handles, rejuvenated original oak and satinwood panelling, newly installed cast iron radiators, and subtly integrated underfloor heating. The current owners have cherished nine functional fireplaces and describe the house as their family's "sanctuary", sharing: "From evening gatherings in the panelled drawing room, to quiet mornings in the turret, to watching the sun set from the Shed's balcony, Brimptsmead has been a place to live, to love, and to remember." Tucked away from the main residence are two cottages – Bentley and Herb – providing self-contained living spaces for visitors, extended kin or domestic help. Brimptsmead boasts a secluded, south-facing position within Dartmoor National Park, elevated and undisturbed by public footpaths. The grounds are a tapestry of lawns, age-old woods, a grassy meadow, and a sloping field leading to open Duchy farmland. This exquisite property is up for grabs through By Design, with an asking price of £4.5 million.
Times
05-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Prince William stops charging charities thousands of pounds' rent
Prince William has stopped imposing rents on lifeboat stations, the fire service, village halls and school playing fields after a Sunday Times investigation revealed his private property empire was making large sums of money from charities and community groups. The Duchy of Cornwall, which provides William with a private income, said it had taken the opportunity 'to stop and reflect' since the story and the estate now wished to adopt a 'new policy' to ensure it was 'a force for good in the years to come'. • Revealed: the property empires that make Charles and William millions In November, a joint investigation with Channel 4's Dispatches obtained the details of 3,536 properties held by the Duchy of Lancaster, which provides the King with an income, and 1,874 held by the Duchy of Cornwall. The files revealed that Charles and his elder son were making millions of pounds a year in tax-free profits by charging charities, the armed forces, the NHS, schools, the prison service and councils for the right to use lands, rivers and seashores largely seized by the monarchy in medieval times. Charles and William operate as commercial landlords while holding a special status exempting them from paying corporation tax on their profits. Last year, the Duchy of Lancaster raised £27.4 million for the King, and this year the Duchy of Cornwall raised £22.9 million for the prince, which they use to fund their private homes, personal income and staff. This private income is separate from the £132 million of public money, the sovereign grant, the royals will receive from the Exchequer this year to finance their formal duties, palaces and official households. The Duchy of Cornwall has now announced it will stop imposing the following rental charges: • £600 a year from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for permission to use the prince's beaches at Salcombe, Sennen Cove, the Lizard, Rock and St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly.• £15,000 from Devon county council over 50 years to allow Princetown fire station to operate on duchy land. • Thousands of pounds a year from communities for permission to use village halls in Curry Mallet and Newton St Loe, allotments in Bradninch and a community orchard in Newquay used to help disadvantaged groups.• £3,000 over 20 years from the Trinity House maritime charity for the right to operate the Bishop Rock lighthouse in the Isle of Scilly. • Thousands of pounds a year from councils and schools so the public can use playing fields, rugby pitches and recreation grounds in Princetown, Corston, Clandown near Bath and Stoke-sub-Hamdon in Somerset.• £125,000 over 25 years from the government for the use of the visitor centre and shop at Tintagel Castle, which fund the castle's preservation. • £200 a year for the use of a children's play area in Poundbury, Dorset, and rental payments from the Scouts. The duchy said it was also reviewing the rents it charges state schools. Devon county council is required to pay the duchy at least £319,000 over 21 years for the right to operate Princetown Community Primary School, on Dartmoor. Farrington Gurney Church of England Primary School, near Bath, is paying £60,000 for the use of its premises over 25 years. Will Bax, the keeper of the records for the Duchy of Cornwall, said: 'Our new policy recognises our key role at the heart of communities. As such we will waive rents for grassroot community tenants and give up to 50 per cent rental discounts to charity tenants where they directly rent space from the duchy, and are active on the ground within our communities. 'The transition to the leadership of the 25th Duke of Cornwall marked a significant moment for the estate. Together, we are building on the strong foundations and seizing the opportunity to strengthen our positive impact, ensuring the duchy remains a force for good in the years to come.' Despite this new approach, the duchy says it will continue to take large taxpayer-funded rents from government departments. Over the past 20 years, it has charged the Ministry of Defence at least £900,000 for the right to moor boats needed to train recruits on the waters surrounding the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, the country's top naval academy. The duchy also charges the Royal Navy £10,000 a year for access to its own oil depot, which is used to fuel the nation's warships, at Devonport in Plymouth, the UK's biggest naval base. The duchy imposes further charges on the army for the right to train within Dartmoor National Park. The King is head of the armed forces and William is commodore-in-chief of the submarine service. In addition, the duchy says it will continue to charge the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) £1.5 million a year — amounting to £37.5 million over the 25 years of the lease — to use HMP Dartmoor, despite it now standing empty because of high levels of toxic gas recorded on the site. The duchy's lease compels the MoJ to spend a minimum of £68 million over the next decade updating the prison buildings. Last week the duchy said the MoD and MoJ both obtained their 'own independent specialist advice in connection with licences and leases held with the duchy including on matters of rent'. Dorchester Community Church will continue to pay at least £1 million to the duchy over the duration of its 250-year lease. The duchy said: 'This property is subject to a unique legal position. Rent will not be reduced.' The tax and operating status of the duchies has long been a source of contention. The Duchy of Lancaster says it operates as a commercial company and the Duchy of Cornwall says it is a 'private estate with a commercial imperative'. Under a memorandum of understanding with the Treasury, the estates receive special tax status. This means they pay no capital gains or corporation tax and do not have to comply with property laws such as compulsory purchase orders. The King and the prince both say they pay income tax voluntarily at the highest rate (45 per cent) on the duchy money they receive. The last time Charles published his taxes, for the year 2021-22, he paid income tax of £5.9 million, which amounted to 25 per cent of the £23 million duchy profit, because he deducted expenses he considered related to his official duties. William has never declared how much tax he pays. Kensington Palace declined to say how much income tax the prince paid on the £22.9 million he received from the duchy last year. Last week, the Duchy of Lancaster said it was 'actively reviewing' its own rental charges, which include charging the NHS more than £11 million for the right to park ambulances in a London warehouse owned by the King. Its latest accounts have not yet been released. Baroness Hodge of Barking, the government's anti-corruption champion, said the duchy's reforms showed 'the best of journalism does have an impact'. 'This is a good first step but they need to do more,' she said. 'The royals need to remember that they are receiving a huge amount of taxpayers' money via the sovereign grant. That puts the onus of responsibility on them not to exploit their position and charge public services an arm and a leg. In addition, if they want to act commercially it is wrong they get a tax advantage which gives them an unfair competitive advantage.'
ITV News
01-07-2025
- Business
- ITV News
Why Prince William's estate is giving some tenants a rental discount
The estate which provides Prince William and Kate with their income has pledged to 'stop and reflect' after it emerged the Duchy of Cornwall had secured rental agreements with public bodies worth millions of pounds. The estate said it would now prioritise becoming a landlord with social impact following recent damaging disclosures in a TV documentary. The Prince of Wales received £22.9 million from the Duchy of Cornwall last year for the official running of his household and the private needs of his family. Earlier this year, Channel 4's Dispatches revealed that the estate charged rent to small charities, as well as, government departments including the Ministries of Defence and Justice. Under the new rental agreement, rent for grassroots community groups will be waived and local charity groups who directly rent space from the Duchy will receive a 50% discount. But the Royal Navy will still be charged to moor its ships on Duchy waterways and rent will also still be collected from Dartmoor Prison for being on its land. The estate's chief executive Will Bax said the new policy focused on direct tenants. 'We have created a new policy relating to rents charged to community groups and local charities, where they are active within our communities," he said. Sources revealed the Duchy of Cornwall had been through a 'clear point of reflection' and Prince William wanted it to better operate through a social impact lens. But Kensington Palace has refused to say how much income tax Prince William paid on his earnings, stressing he had a right to privacy. The previous Prince of Wales - now King Charles - used to share the amount of income tax he had paid on his earnings. But when William became the 25th Duke of Cornwall that changed. Prince William's spokesperson said the heir to the throne paid the 'highest rate of tax' – but did not disclose the amount. What is the Duchy of Cornwall - and what does it mean for Prince William? Royal estates defend claims 'millions' earnt from NHS and state school contracts The Duchy of Cornwall was set up in 1348 to provide a source of income for the next in line to the throne which was independent of the Sovereign. It currently owns 50,000 hectares of land mostly in the southwest but also in various other parts of the country. The estate is planning a major new town development similar to the ones Prince Charles started at Poundbury in Dorset and Nansledan in Cornwall. The new site in Faversham in Kent was 'inspired by the learnings' from the previous two developments, according to Will Bax, and will build 2500 homes, a new school, health centre and sports facilities. The Royal accounts also showed Prince William's 24 hour trip to Estonia earlier this year cost £55,846 in travel costs alone. These costs were met by the Sovereign Grant, the money which pays for other royals operating in the household of Buckingham Palace. The flights came from that pot of money because the visit to British troops stationed there was on behalf of the Foreign Office. Kensington Palace revealed there were 68 people employed in William's household, which also looked after the Princess of Wales and Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, but that workers from diverse backgrounds fell slightly short of their target of 14%. The current figure is 13.2%.
The Guardian
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Duchy, London EC2: ‘The small plates concept, once so edgy, shows no sign of relenting' – restaurant review
I felt a compulsion to go to Duchy, in east London, because I had dined at its predecessor, Leroy, in 2018, as well as its genesis, Ellory, in 2015. These three different restaurants share DNA. Yes, 10 years have passed, but very little in the pared-back, pan-European anchovies-on-a-plate-for-£12 dining scene has moved on. No-frills decor, bare-brick walls, earnest small plates, staff with statement moustaches despite it not being remotely near Movember. We all know the drill for such places. There will be those exemplary anchovies on some sort of crostini, asparagus because it's in season, some beans, maybe green, perhaps white, fancy French cheese and a tart of the day for afters. While Ellory merged into Leroy via a move from London Fields to Shoreditch, Leroy has become Duchy, it seems, via a simple change of the sign above the door. Front-of-house Alex Grant and chef Simon Shand met at Leroy and have now made this restaurant their own. In pop music terms, visiting Duchy is like going to see Bucks Fizz at Butlin's and the only remaining member is David Van Day, and you're pretty sure he was actually in Dollar, but hey, it's fine, whatever, because they're now cranking through Making Your Mind Up anyway. Still, clearly this 'things on plates, served sporadically' concept isn't broken, and Duchy don't need to fix it, because by 5pm on a Tuesday night, this new/old restaurant is filling up nicely, and by the time we leave two hours later, it's absolutely heaving. The UK restaurant world is patently nowhere near the end of its 'three ravioli dressed in olive oil and a scattering of podded peas' era, of 'Hey, guys, can I start you off with some comté gougères' and 'Yes, we are playing Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense'. There has, admittedly, been a surge of 'authentic French' restaurants in the capital recently – 74 Duke, French Society, Marjorie's, Joséphine – where beret-wearing British restaurateurs seem to be draping onions around their necks and serving up hearty soups, souffles, trotters and Paris-Brests, and very nice they are, too. But this thing that Ellory, then Leroy and now Duchy does, and which was once so edgy, shows no sign of relenting. Two anchovies on two crostini dotted with marjoram leaves arrive for £5, followed by a pile of rather soft, chunkily cut panisse – polenta fries – enrobed in a thick grating of meule des Alpes from Savoie. A vitello tonnato with the veal served tartare-style is topped with what are reportedly shoestring fries, but have tangled into what looks like a deep-fried potato rösti. A highlight is a bowl of al dente Italian flat beans served cold in some type of vinaigrette, and with the pleasing addition of fresh almonds, blobs of rather pungent gorgonzola and a few slices of loquat. Surely loquats are just kumquats with aspirations of grandeur, you might be thinking. Well, you would be very wrong: loquats are bigger, more like a sharp pear in flavour and wholly suitable for matching with a stinky, oozy Italian cheese and some crunchy veg. A bowl of fresh spaghetti with sage is as memorable as the chorus of Britain's last Eurovision entry, and I am truly puzzled by what appears to be Duchy's signature dish: some very damp smoked trout on a bowl of vivid green spätzle that have been cooked until mushy. Thank heavens for the final main course, then, poulet au vin jaune, served on a silky buttery pomme purée with a scattering of outstanding morels. Delicious, although there is always a moment, when I have been fooled again into sharing a plate of chicken and mash, that I think, 'Surely sharing mash and gravy is the type of thing you should only need to do in a national emergency and you're huddling around a brazier with other survivors. Why am I paying £28 for this pleasure?' But, as I say, we are too far down this route to back out now; those brick walls that make conversations bounce around deafeningly, the slice of perfectly fine apricot tart with creme fraiche for afters, the £130 bill without drinks for an adequate, perfectly of-its-ilk, London small-plates dinner. Stop Making Sense is reaching its final track as we pay up, and I'm not entirely sure if the food world ever truly started making sense. Duchy 18 Phipp Street, London EC2, 07874 310612. Open Tues-Sat, lunch noon-2pm, dinner 5.30-9.45pm. From about £40 a head à la carte, plus drinks and service
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Prince William Makes Surprise Visit (in Rain Boots!) to Launch 'Bold and Ambitious' Project
Prince William made a surprise visit to Dartmoor, in southwest England, to highlight a new mission He is using ownership of the vast Duchy of Cornwall to collaborate on a massive environmental restoration initiative The Prince of Wales, 42, calls the vision "bold and ambitious"Prince William is on a new mission. The Prince of Wales, 42, made a surprise visit to a remote part of southwest England on June 12, kicking off an ambitious restoration project. William — dressed for the outdoors in rainboots and a cap — visited an area of restored peatland on Dartmoor. He was there in his capacity as head of the Duchy of Cornwall, which owns about 68,000 acres of the ancient moor, which is now a protected national park. But peatland, which is a natural store of carbon, is being eroded, and climate change is causing other stresses to the landscape. A collaboration between the Duchy and Central Dartmoor Landscape Recovery Project is uniting landowners and others to encourage new approaches to grazing, biodiversity, conservation and river restoration, as part of the largest project of its kind in the U.K. The new landscape vision for Dartmoor which hopes to restore the wilderness while also strengthening its resilience to changes in the climate and also meeting the changing needs of local people and farmers. The plan hopes to recreate wooded areas to shelter rivers and re-establish more traditional cattle and sheep grazing practices -- and building more affordable housing. Prince William, who was hosted on Dartmoor by Duchy tenant farmers David and Justine Colton as he was updated about the initiative, called it "bold and ambitious." Writing in the foreword to the Landscape Vision for Dartmoor, the prince says, 'The balance between nature and people has evolved for thousands of years to shape the landscape we recognize today. To keep Dartmoor special, we must respond to the twin challenges of global warming and the requirement to restore nature, while ensuring the communities on Dartmoor can thrive.' "The Dartmoor Vision shows us what might be possible and how that might be achieved. It is bold and ambitious and something that I hope, by working together, can be delivered not just for the current generation but for generations to come." William, who is a committed conservationist, last weekend spoke to world leaders at a global gathering in Monaco for World Ocean Day. He is gradually putting his stamp on the Duchy, which he inherited from his father King Charles when Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022. He is also introducing initiatives to combat homelessness, another key plank of his public work, by building some social housing on the estate in Cornwall. Before he left the area on Thursday, William also met representatives from the local fire service. National Park Authority Rangers and Commoners Council to hear about, and thank them for tackling, a recent wildfire on North Moor. The Prince of Wales inherited the Duchy of Cornwall, an estate spanning over 20 counties in England and Wales worth over $1 billion that provides funds for the heir. He quietly visits parts of the region once every four to six weeks, and The Telegraph tagged along on one of his recent trips. The duchy's secretary, Will Bax, told the outlet that Prince William is "pretty demanding" — in a "great" way. "He's easy to follow because he's got great conviction and personality, and he really wears his heart on his sleeve in terms of social interest and his desire to have a positive impact in the world," Bax said. Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Estate director Ben Murphy added that the heir has a "healthy impatience, as his father did," which "puts the wind in our sails." Read the original article on People
