King Charles is accused of ‘profiting’ from the assets of dead citizens and using them as ‘free money’
- The Duchy of Lancaster has collected assets from the dead worth more than £60 million
King Charles is accused of profiting from the dead as insiders claim his property empire uses their assets as ‘free money’ and a ‘slush fund’.
The monarch’s private estate, the Duchy of Lancaster, has long collected assets owned by people who died in its jurisdiction without a will or next of kin in a feudal system known as ‘bona vacantia’.
Over the past decade it has raised more than £60 million, which – after costs – would be distributed to charities founded by the late Queen.
This includes the Duchy of Lancaster Jubilee Trust, established in 2001, which supports the maintenance and conservation of heritage assets across the estate for the ‘public benefit’.
But internal documents from the Duchy, obtained by the Guardian, reportedly reveal how funds are increasingly being used to finance the renovation of properties rented out for profit.
King Charles is accused of profiting from the dead as insiders claim his property empire uses their assets as ‘free money’ and a ‘slush fund’.
The 2020 policy, titled SA9, states that funds can be used for the ‘public good’ to repair, preserve and protect Duchy properties when they are categorized as ‘heritage’.
However, the definition goes beyond listed buildings and includes all buildings that fall within other categories, including buildings in conservation areas or an Area of Outstanding National Beauty (AONB), or if they are deemed to be of ‘local historic interest’ or of special scientific interest to be.
A Guardian analysis shows that the 2020 policy gave the Duchy a license to spend bona vacantia on as much as half of its vast property portfolio.
Three sources familiar with the duchy’s spending confirmed to the Guardian that the estate used proceeds from the deaths to revamp its vast property portfolio.
One said Duchy insiders were treating the bona vacantia funds as ‘free money’ and a ‘slush fund’.
Properties eligible for funding include townhouses, holiday lets, country cottages, an old petrol station and barns, including one used to facilitate partridge sprouts in Yorkshire.
One document refers to the renovation of an old farmhouse to transform it into a luxury residential home, while another project saw a farmhouse converted into commercial offices.
In some cases the money was spent to buy wood stoves for the king’s properties and rented out by his estate.
One source said Duchy insiders were treating the bona vacantia funds as ‘free money’ and a ‘slush fund’.
The monarch’s private estate, the Duchy of Lancaster, has long collected assets owned by people who died in its jurisdiction, collecting more than £60 million in the past decade.
A Guardian analysis shows that the 2020 policy gave the Duchy a license to spend bona vacantia on as much as half of its vast real estate portfolio
This practice is said to make rental properties more profitable, and in turn benefits the King, who has received £26 million from the Duchy in his first annual payout since inheriting the Queen’s estate.
The 2020 policy recognizes that spending the money in this way could result in an ‘incidental’ benefit to the king’s private income.
It adds: ‘The primary purpose of the expenditure must be to preserve and protect the structure of the property and any benefit to the privy. [the king’s private income] is incidental to that purpose.”
A spokesperson for the Duchy of Lancaster said of the bona vacantia funds: ‘The balance will be split between the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund, the Duke of Lancaster Housing Trust and Jubilee Trust, three charities founded by the late Queen.
‘These charities were established after Queen Elizabeth decided that bona vacantia income could no longer go towards the Privy Purse.
‘On his accession to the throne, His Majesty the King reaffirmed that money from bona vacantia should not go to the Privy Purse, but should be used primarily to support local communities, improve the sustainability and biodiversity of the country protect and preserve public and historic properties around the world. Duchy of Lancaster estates.
‘This includes the restoration and repair of eligible buildings to protect and preserve them for future generations.’