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Public contracts with schools, the NHS and the armed forces have generated millions of pounds in income for the private estates of Prince William and King Charles, according to an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and the Sunday Times newspaper. The deals made with the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster over the past year have reportedly been worth nearly £50m. The Duchy of Lancaster, which is King Charles’ private estate, is believed to have received rent from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust of £11.4m over 15 years for a London warehouse, while the Duchy of Cornwall was paid £37m by the Ministry of Justice to lease Dartmoor Prison.
Both the Duchies also have contracts with mining firms, which the programme claims could have environmental consequences. The Duchy of Cornwall spokesperson stated that the estate “acts responsibly and in a sustainable way” in accordance with the government’s industrial strategy. A spokesperson for the Duchy of Lancaster stated that the lease of land to mining companies had gone through “robust environmental impact assessments”.
The Duchy of Cornwall dates back to 1337, while the Duchy of Lancaster was established in 1399. The former owns large amounts of land and commercial property in England and Wales, while the latter is King Charles’ private estate. Neither of these estates relate to the Crown Estate, a separately owned property business which is run independently and whose profits go to the Treasury. The total of Crown Estate profits is used to calculate the Sovereign Grant, which funds the Royal Family and will reach £132m next year after profit from the Crown Estate increased to £1.1bn.
A spokesperson for the Duchy of Lancaster said that the estate complies “with all relevant UK legislation and regulatory standards applicable to its range of business activities”. A spokesperson for the Duchy of Cornwall stated that it was “a private estate with a commercial imperative.” However, Dispatches reports that rental agreement details have not been made available to Parliament
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