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Prince William is “completely immersing himself” and “taking a very active role in” the Duchy of Cornwall, a royal source has claimed.
The new Prince of Wales, 40, now manages the estate and his £345 million property portfolio – including 128,000 acres of land – after inheriting it from his father, King Charles III.
On Monday, meeting with Alastair Martin, the secretary of the estate at Kensington Palace, William had revealed the court circular, an account of royal duties.
A royal source told PEOPLE: ‘[William] will play a very active role in this. He immerses himself completely in it.’
The duchy, which reportedly had an income of £21 million last year, is being passed to the eldest son of a reigning British monarch.
By inheriting the Duchy, the new Prince of Wales has become Britain’s largest private landowner, holding £1.2 billion in 23 counties, including farms, housing projects, seven castles, woodlands, coastlines and commercial property .
Prince William (pictured with King Charles) is ‘completely immersing himself’ and ‘taking a very active role in’ the Duchy of Cornwall, a royal source has claimed
The new Prince of Wales (pictured recently), 40, now manages the estate and his £345 million property portfolio – including 128,000 acres of land – after inheriting it from his father, King Charles III
The Duchy owns most of the more than 200 Isles of Scilly and crags off the coast of Cornwall, including nearly a third of the houses on the five inhabited islands of St Mary’s, Tresco, St Martin’s, St Agnes and Bryher.
Tourism accounts for more than 85 percent of the local economy with visitors drawn to the seals, dolphins, puffins and rare flowers. The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust pays the Duchy a rent of a single daffodil per year.
Elsewhere, among the Duchy’s 70,000 acres in Devon, is Dartmoor Prison, whose inmates over the years have included London mobsters Frank ‘The Mad Axeman’ Mitchell and Jack ‘the Hat’ McVitie.
The impressive property portfolio also includes the Oval cricket ground in South London.
While Prince William is new to the role, in recent years he has learned more about the Duchy in preparation.
He has reportedly visited the estate a number of times and even researched whether vacant houses on the land could accommodate the homeless.
Charles took over the administration of the duchy when he was 21.
While it may be a new responsibility for William, he is no stranger to Cornwall and grew up in the county.
The Duke visited Tresco Island with his brother Harry and parents Charles and Diana as a child in June 1989.
A photo from the break captured a seven-year-old William preparing for a bike ride alongside his family, with Diana standing behind him in a fuchsia sweater.
Over the years he also made several trips to the Duchy with his father, and Charles has long encouraged William to take an interest in his operation and his portfolio of land, financial investments and real estate.
The Duke first attended a meeting of the Council of Princes, which oversees the administration of the Duchy, in 2011.
In 2016 he visited duchy projects in Cornwall and the Scillies with the Duchess of Cambridge.
On Monday, Prince William met with the estate’s secretary and archivist Alastair Martin (pictured with the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, in July this year)
Prince William may have only just become the Duke of Cornwall – but his connection to the earldom goes back many years to his childhood (pictured at age seven, with his father Charles, brother Prince Harry and mother Diana in 1989)
The new Prince of Wales, who is also the Duke of Cambridge and Cornwall, attended his first meeting of the Duchy of Cornwall’s finance committee since being awarded the title last week (pictured, visit to the county for engagements in 2016)
Footage showed the couple boarding a boat to St Martins after visiting Tresco Abbey Garden.
In November 2017, he hosted two officers of the Duchy of Cornwall at Kensington Palace. He had a private audience with Alastair Martin, Secretary to the Duchy, and Keith Willis, the Chief Financial Officer.
In 2018, Prince William’s interest in the Duchy seemed to increase. He paid a private visit to Poundbury, Charles’s model village.
In recent years William has accompanied his father to meetings in the Duchy of Cornwall and delved into the affairs of the estate.
He previously said of the success of Charles’s stewardship: ‘I have started thinking about how I will one day inherit the Duchy and what I will do with it. I think it’s very important, about the family corner, really.’