As the nation mourns the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, work is under way to ensure the smooth handover of the various royal estates and property interests.
The Queen was considered “very much the non-executive chair”(£) of her property interests, the majority of which was held by the £15.6bn Crown Estate. While a quarter of its revenue flows to the monarch, the relationship between the business and the Queen was largely “arm’s length”.
The Duchy of Lancaster(£) will also be handed to the new King, Charles III. Its holdings cover 45,000 acres, ranging from farmland in Staffordshire to the Savoy estate in London, with a net asset value of £653m, handing the monarch £24m last year. Sovereign-to-sovereign bequests are exempt from inheritance tax, so the Duchy of Lancaster passes to her successor untaxed.
Charles’s relationship with his former property company, the Duchy of Cornwall, was more “hands on”(£). Alongside its effective chief executive, former Carter Jonas partner Alastair Martin, Charles was instrumental in shaping the Duchy’s property strategy, from its development of Poundbury in Dorset to the extension of Newquay in Cornwall.
The £1bn estate owns more than 130,000 acres of land, including the Isles of Scilly, swathes of Dartmoor and 260 farms, but the bulk of its income comes from its commercial property portfolio of offices and retail parks. It generated a £23m surplus last year and £21m was handed to the then Prince of Wales.
That title, along with the Duchy, now transfers to Prince William.
In 1980, the Duchy bought Highgrove in Gloucestershire, with Charles becoming its tenant for life. His son now effectively becomes his landlord.
