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Calarogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I'm
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your host, Mark Francis. Is Prince William now more rich
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than King Charles. According to the newly released royal financial figures,
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The Prince of Wales now oversees assets worth an estimated
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one point two billion pounds through the Duchy of Cornwall,
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making the heir to the throne wealthier on paper than
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its father, King Charles. The figures emerged alongside this week's
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annual Sovereign Grant Report, which also revealed that both Charles
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and William's personal tax payments for the first time. In
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an effort to increase transparency around royal finances, William inherited
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the Duchy of Cornwall automatically upon Queen Elizabeth I's death
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in September twenty twenty two, when Charles became king and
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William became Prince of Wales. The Duchy is not a
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personal bank account, but a hereditary estate. Stretching across roughly
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one hundred and thirty thousand acres. It includes farmland, commercial property,
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housing developments, Forest's coastline and even London's Oval cricket ground.
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The estate generates the income that funds William's official duties,
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his household, and much of the family's private life. For
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the twenty twenty five twenty six financial year, William received
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private income of twenty one million pounds from the Duchy.
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The estate itself is valued at around one point two
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billion pounds, a figure that now exceeds King charles Reported
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personal fortune. The Sunday Times Rich List recently estimated Charles's
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personal wealth at approximately six hundred and forty million pounds.
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It is important to note, however, that these numbers measure
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different things. Charles reported fortune reflects his personal wealth, while
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the Duchy of Cornwall is a hereditary estate that William
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controls but does not personally own in the conventional sense.
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He cannot simply sell it off or divide it into cash. Instead,
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he serves as steward of an asset that has funded
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heirs to the throne for centuries. The annual accounts released
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by Buckingham Palace were intended to showcase a monarchy becoming
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more transparent. Instead, they have sparked a fresh debate of
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whether the institution has become more expensive even as it
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has grown smaller. Critics argue that King Charles has long
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spoken about creating a slim down monarchy, but the latest
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financial figures tell a different story. Core public funding through
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the Sovereign Grant is set to rise dramatically, increasing from
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fifty one million to ninety nine million next year. While
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recent headline totals have included additional funding for the three
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hundred and seventy million pound refurbishment of bucking And Palace,
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opponents note that even after those renovation costs disappear, the
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monarchy's baseline public funding will be almost double what it
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was just three years ago. The mechanism behind the increase
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has attracted particular criticism. Under what some campaigners called the
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golden ratchet, the Sovereign Grant can increase but cannot easily
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be reduced, leaving Parliament with limited ability to scale funding
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back Labour. Per Lord George Forkes told the ipaper it
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is bloated. It is unnecessarily huge in terms of the
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number of hangars, on the number of palaces, the true
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the staff to support it all. It should be much
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more modest. The latest accounts showed that despite having fewer
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working members of the royal family following the departures of
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Prince Harriot, Megham spending has continued to rise. Royal travel
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increased from four point seven million to five point one
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over the past year. Helicopters were used for one hundred
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and seventy seven journeys at a total cost of more
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than seven hundred and thirty three thousand pounds, averaging just
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over four thousand pounds a flight. Royal staffing also grew,
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with headcounts rising from five hundred and thirty nine employees
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to five sixty three, while payroll costs climbed from twenty
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nine point nine to thirty three point seven million. Hospitality
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spending also increased, with housekeeping, food and drink costs rising
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from three point two to three point five million pounds.
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Among the most expensive official overseas engagements were Prince William's
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three day visit to Saudi Arabia. It cost one hundred
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and thirty thousand pounds, closely followed by the King and
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Queen's state visit to Italy, which cost one hundred and
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twenty seven thousand. William's trip to the COP thirty Climate
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conference in Brazil came in at seventy nine thousand. Operations
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for the King's recent state visit to the US also
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featured prominently. Although the full cost of that April tour
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will not appear until next year's accounts, officials disclosed that
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an advanced planning visit by palace staff to the US
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and Bermuda costs sixty six thousand. Bucking and Palaces defended
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the spending argument that the sovereign grant supports the work
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of the institution rather than private lives and members of
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the Royal family. Former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker believes
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the entire funding system should be replaced, telling eyepaper the
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monarchy is certainly bloated. It's essentially overweight and needs to
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go on a diet, but the Royals won't do it
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unless they are forced to by pressure from Parliament, media
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and public. Having fewer people on the balcony although welcome
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is not enough. You can only talk about a slim
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down monarchy if there is a sustained production in costs.
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In The Independent, Alexander Larman writes the Royal family is
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dangerously close to becoming just another government department. Man publishes
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tax return may not seem to be an especially noteworthy story,
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yet set in the context of the neocomically opaque finances
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of the firm. It is probably the most significant thing
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to happen to the Royal family on a purely constitutional
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level since the abdication crisis in nineteen thirty six, if
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of course, we ignore the various divorces, disgraces and deaths
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that have taken place since. To abandon your palace and
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expose your finances is a seed change in the family's
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relationship with the public. A large part of the Royal
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Family's enduring quality appeal is not quite the right word,
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is that they have chosen to remain aloof beyond the
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everyday cares and concerns of their subjects, and by and
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large have never been challenged on this Olympian detachment. When
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it was announced that Elizabeth the second would start paying
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tax in nineteen ninety three, it was greeted with astonishment
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and gratitude rather than the size of what took you
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so long? Her son is undoubtedly hoping for the same reaction,
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but he is unlikely to receive it. This is partly
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because he is not as popular a figure as the
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late queen, and also because the small print throws up
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some eyebrow raising numbers, at least in the doubling of
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the sums given to them in the sovereign grant from
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the workings of the Crown Estate. But it is also
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because Queen Elizabeth was an expert in keeping things as
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uncontroversial and steady as possible. It was no wonder that
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when she greeted people at the innumerable public events that
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she held during her reign, her standard remark was have
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you come far? Charles might also be asking himself today
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whether he has gone too far. The whole point of
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the British Royal Family, rather than say the Dutch equivalent,
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where its members happily ride around city streets on bicycles,
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is that it removes itself from ordinary concerns. If we
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regard the firm as nothing more than an extension of
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our own family lives, then questions must be asked about
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why its members still merit hundreds of millions of pounds
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of public money, and whether their subjects are getting value
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for money as a result. More in just a moment,
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hey all, This week we're celebrating America's two hundred and
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fiftieth birthday here on Palace Intrigue, our afternoon show. Each week,
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it's looking back at the two hundred and fifty years
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since seventeen seventy six as a Royal check that out
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and also a daily crime series called Daily Crime and
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Justice is following the five top UK trials in the
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last two hundred and fifty years, so take a look
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for that wherever you get podcasts Daily Crime and Justice.
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As Prince Harry and Meg and Michael prepare for their
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expected return to Britain broadcast to Piers Morgan has offered
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a blunt assessment and how he believes the visit is
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being viewed inside royal circles. Speaking on The Royals Uncensored podcast,
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Morgan claimed, they don't trust them period. They just don't
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trust them. Obviously. The King is a father would love
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to see his son. The problem is everyone around him
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is saying, how can you trust him? Sir? Why should
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they be allowed to march around the world with unofficial
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royal visits, making tons of money for themselves in the process,
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without doing any royal duty whatsoever? Why should they According
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to reports that Duken Duchess of Sussex will not travel
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by private chap when they arrive from the Invictus Games
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one year countdown events, source familiar with the arrangements, said
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Harry always travels with one or two of his own
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security team. Several reports claim Harry and Meghan intend to
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bring a Netflix documentary crew to film portions of the
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British visit as part of a future production. One source
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claimed they know it would make the biggest spectacle. They
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still want photos of them being royal. Whether cameras will
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be permitted anywhere near any meeting with King Charles remains
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entirely unclear. There was also the question of whether or
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not such a film crew would do anything involving Dianna's
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memory Royal inside a deep Crown observes, one imagines the
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Prince of Wales would find the Netflix crew rather difficult
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to square with the state of purpose of the visit.
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If the goal is genuine reconciliation, private family time healing
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the breach, cameras would seem to work against that. If
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the goal is documenting the moment for content, then the
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reconciliation becomes secondary. One suspects William, observing from his position,
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would note this contradiction quite sharply. Whether he would say
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so is another matter. Entirely before we go. If you're
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Give it a try for a month. See what you think.
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We really really well. You appreciate your support by my Francis,
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my thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue and
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continues