King Charles III used money from intestate Britons to fund upgrades to his vast property empire, despite claiming the funds were donated to charity, according to leaked documents obtained by The Guardian.
In the north-west of England, there has been a custom since feudal times for the estate of people who died without a will or next of kin to be passed on to the king through the Duchy of Lancaster, which in its modern incarnation functions as something of a family office for the king, controlling part of his estate.
Over the past seven decades, the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall have raised an estimated £1.2 billion for Charles and his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, The Guardian reported.
The Duchy has long maintained that the money collected in this way is donated to charity. In fact, only a small portion goes towards its stated goals. The bulk, according to The Guardian, is used to finance upgrades to properties owned by the king, including townhouses, cottages, farm buildings and barns, helping to generate revenue for the duchy.
Charles received £26 million from the Duchy of Lancaster that year. By the way, none of the duchies pay corporate taxes or capital gains taxes.
Since taking office as monarch last year, Charles inherited control of an estate worth an estimated $42 billion.
British journalists were unable to contact Buckingham Palace for comment. The Duchy of Lancaster did not immediately respond. In a statement to The Guardian, a Duchy spokesman said King Charles wished for the assets of deceased residents to be “used primarily to support local communities, protect the sustainability and biodiversity of the land and preserve public and historic sites throughout the Duchy of Lancaster Estates.”
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