The king is profiting from the deaths of thousands of people in the north-west of England whose assets are secretly being used to upgrade a commercial property empire managed by his hereditary estate, the Guardian can reveal.
The Duchy of Lancaster, a controversial land and property estate that generates huge profits for King Charles III, has collected tens of millions of pounds in recent years under an antiquated system that dates back to feudal times.
Financial assets known as bona vacantia, owned by people who died without a will or known next of kin, are collected by the duchy. Over the last 10 years, it has collected more than £60m in the funds. It has long claimed that, after deducting costs, bona vacantia revenues are donated to charities.
However, only a small percentage of these revenues is being given to charity. Internal duchy documents seen by the Guardian reveal how funds are secretly being used to finance the renovation of properties that are owned by the king and rented out for profit. » | Maeve McClenaghan, Rob Evans and Henry Dyer | Thursday, November 23, 2023
‘He would turn in his grave’: the dead whose assets went to King Charles’s estate: For those who die with no will or heirs in parts of England, the king’s estate claims their assets. Here are some of their stories »
How royal estates use bona vacantia to collect money from dead people: Latin term meaning ‘vacant goods’ relates to people who die without a will or known heirs »
