King Charles III has been using money collected from people who die without a will or next of kin to finance improvements on his vast property empire, despite claiming the funds are donated to charity, according to leaked documents obtained by The Guardian.
Across a swath of northwest England, a custom since feudal times has dictated that the assets of people who die without a will or next of kin revert to the king through the Duchy of Lancaster, which in its modern incarnation functions as something akin to a family office for the king, overseeing a portion of his vast landholdings. Over the past seven decades, the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall have generated roughly 1.2 billion pounds for Charles and his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, The Guardian previously reported.
The Duchy has long claimed that money collected in this way is donated to charity. In fact, only a small portion goes to charity. The bulk, according to The Guardian, is used to finance improvements on rental properties owned by the king, including townhouses, cottages, agricultural buildings, and barns - helping the duchy spin a profit. Charles received 26 million pounds from the Duchy of Lancaster this year. Neither duchy pays corporate taxes or capital gains taxes.
When he took over as monarch last year, Charles inherited control over institutions valued at roughly $42 billion.
Buckingham Palace could not be reached for comment. The Duchy of Lancaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the duchy indicated that it was King Charles' wish that dead residents' assets "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."
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