Royal lifetime clause: Walt Disney's Lawyers have invoked Charles III, inset, in legal ploy. Photo / File; Getty Images
Royal lifetime clause: Walt Disney's Lawyers have invoked Charles III, inset, in legal ploy. Photo / File; Getty Images
Disney’s lawyers have invoked royal protection as a long-running legal battle takes a bizarre turn.
The Walt Disney Corporation is famously litigious but theme park lawyers have outdone themselves in the latest exchange in a long standing tiff between them and Florida Governor Ron De Santis.
Last year De Santis revoked Walt Disney World’s special tax status, which allowed the megaresort to operate as a self-governing district within the state.
In April last year the Florida Governor signed a bill to end the long standing arrangement to self government, apparently over the Walt Disney Company’s failure to support Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act.
The controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill sought to make it illegal to discuss sexual orientation with pupils before grade 4, under the age of 9.
Disney was one of the companies which publicly opposed the bill, setting them against the Governor’s office.
DeSantis declared there would be a “new sheriff in town” during a news conference in February announcing the changes to the new board for the autonomous Reedy Creek region, saying “accountability will be the order of the day”.
However, in dismantling Disney’s corporate kingdom lawyers for the Florida district have discovered a very strange development in the legal fine print of the new contract.
The Magic Kingdom appears to have called on the protection of King Charles III.
The outgoing board appointed by Disney included a “royal lives clause” in the 151-page agreement.
A view of Cinderella Castle from Seven Seas Lagoon in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. Photo / AP
This antiquated legal covenant, which dates back to 1692, means that Disney would retain powers for planning and building rights, as well as banning the new district board from mentioning Disney resorts or characters.
The 300-year-old legal covenant applies until “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England”.
The impish clause means they can do as they wish, essentially forever.
Florida says Disney’s lawyers are taking the Mickey. New board member Brian Aungst said that they would “deal with it and correct it” in a public meeting on Wednesday.
The newly-appointed board would hire new lawyers to settle the matter.
Disney issued a brief statement on the development, saying “all agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums”.
Since 1971 the Disney World megaresort has been allowed to operate as a special fiefdom, collecting taxes and running its own civil infrastructure “at no cost to Florida taxpayers”. Disney runs its own fire department and emergency services. There is even a concession for Disney World to build a nuclear power plant, if it so wished. The arrangement allows the Reedy Creek region to collect its own tax pot worth around US$105 million per year, according to CNBC.
