Britain's King Charles III speaks during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. King Charles III sits on a gilded throne to read out the King's Speech, a list of planned laws drawn up by the conservative government and aimed at winning over voters ahead of an election next year. (AP Photo / Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)
Britain's King Charles III speaks during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. King Charles III sits on a gilded throne to read out the King's Speech, a list of planned laws drawn up by the conservative government and aimed at winning over voters ahead of an election next year. (AP Photo / Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)
King Charles is making money from the deaths of thousands of his subjects in England’s northwest.
The Guardian has revealed those people’s assets are secretly being added to a commercial property empire managed by the King’s hereditary estate.
The Duchy of Lancaster is an estate that brings in huge profits for Charles and has gathered tens of millions of pounds over the past few years, thanks to an ancient system.
In this area of the UK, financial assets called “bona vacantia” - belonging to people who died without known next of kin or a will - are taken by the duchy. It’s collected more than £60m ($124m) over the past 10 years, claiming that after costs are deducted, the revenue is donated to charity.
Lancaster Castle in Lancashire, 2021. Photo / Getty Images
But internal documents seen by the Guardian reveal only a fraction is going to charity, with the bulk of the funds financing the renovation of the King’s properties, then rented out.
The system applies in an area known during the Middle Ages as Lancashire county palatine, ruled by a duke and today including Lancashire, parts of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and Cumbria. A duchy policy from 2020 enabled the King’s estate officials to use the funds for his profit-generating portfolio, acknowledging that this could mean an “incidental” boost to Charles’ personal income.
Three sources close to the duchy confirmed revenue collected from dead citizens was being used to upgrade properties, with one revealing insiders refer to it as a “slush fund” and “free money”. The system is helping rental properties become profitable, meaning the King receives tens of millions of pounds each year - which Buckingham Palace says is his “private” income. Charles received £26m from the Duchy of Lancaster earlier this year.
King Charles and Queen Camilla. Photo / Getty Images
The Guardian identified “dozens” of those whose money had been taken by the estate after their deaths, with several living in social housing or rundown properties. Their surviving friends were astonished to learn how their assets were being used, labelling the practice “disgusting”, “not ethical”, and “shocking”.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment, while a duchy spokesperson implied that the King endorsed the system continuing after the Queen’s death to “protect and preserve qualifying buildings” for the future.
What is bona vacantia?
In much of England and Wales, the assets of those who die without a will or relatives are placed in the Treasury and spent on public services. The Latin name bona vacantia means ‘vacant goods’.
But two duchies belonging to the royal family can collect these assets from those who die in two English regions - one the Duchy of Cornwall, which collects bona vacantia from its deceased residents and creates profits for the heir to the throne. Last year the duchy passed to Prince William. The other is the Duchy of Lancaster, which Charles inherited from Queen Elizabeth after her death. Both duchies manage farmland, castles, hotels, warehouses, and many other properties and neither pay corporation or capital gains tax, meaning they’ve generated more than £1.2bn in profit in the past 60 years.
Charles inherited the Duchy of Lancaster from his late mother Queen Elizabeth. Photo / Getty Images
The Duchy of Lancaster’s accounts show only 15 per cent of the millions it has collected over the last 10 years has gone to charity.
A spokesperson for the Duchy said that when Charles came to the throne, he doubled down on his late mother’s approval of the practice for “restoration and repair”.
“The king reaffirmed that money from bona vacantia should not benefit the privy purse, but should be used primarily to support local communities, protect the sustainability and biodiversity of the land and preserve public and historic properties across the Duchy of Lancaster estates.
“This includes the restoration and repair of qualifying buildings in order to protect and preserve them for future generations.”
The spokesperson said that before donating to charity, the duchy set aside money in a late claims fund - just in case any surviving relatives of the deceased came forward.
“The cost of administering bona vacantia and any costs associated with the upkeep of public buildings and those of architectural importance is also deducted.”
