TALK OF THE TOWN: Prince William gives his most loyal friend and closest confidant top job on Duchy Estate after ditching Queen’s sister
- Prince of Wales has appointed William van Cutsem as ‘advisor to the council’
Prince William may have taken the Queen’s sister Annabel Elliot off the Duchy of Cornwall payroll, but it’s a different story for his friend.
Willem has appointed his most loyal friend and confidant Willem van Cutsem as advisor for the duchy.
Van Cutsem, 45, known as ‘VC’ by friends, is Prince George’s godfather.
Many say he is like a brother to 42-year-old William, making him a logical choice to help govern the Duchy of Cornwall as an ‘advisor to the council’.
William inherited the running of his father Charles’ 130,000-acre Duchy estate after his coronation in September 2022. He earned £23 million from it last year. How much tax he will pay has not been disclosed.
Prince William has appointed his most loyal friend William van Cutsem as an advisor for the duchy
The Prince of Wales has taken the Queen’s sister, Annabel Elliot (right), off the payroll of the Duchy of Cornwall
Van Cutsem is well qualified for his role: as a chartered surveyor, he specialises in logistics, sustainable businesses and the construction of storage facilities throughout the UK.
The duchy’s annual report states that Van Cutsem ‘has a keen interest in regenerative agricultural practices within the family and on the farm’.
The two Williamses own country homes 20 miles apart in Norfolk.
They were photographed together in June when Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, married Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral.
Van Cutsem is well qualified for his role as a sworn surveyor and is said to have a keen interest in ‘regenerative agricultural practices’
Van Cutsem’s appointment was announced in the annual report of the Duchy of Cornwall. It was also announced that Camilla’s sister Annabel would no longer be in the service of the Duchy of Cornwall after twenty years.
Annabel, 75 and two years younger than the Queen, was appointed chief estate designer by Charles after he married Camilla in 2005.
Over two decades she received hundreds of thousands of pounds to decorate and modernise the Duchy’s holiday homes in Cornwall, Wales and the Isles of Scilly.