Duchy of Cornwall

The banner of the Duchy of Cornwall.

The arms of the Duchy of Cornwall.

The Duchy of Cornwall is one of the two Royal duchies in England (the other being the Duchy of Lancaster). Generally the reigning monarch bestows the Duchy on his or her eldest son, the Heir Apparent, to provide him the income from the Duchy's estates. The current Duke of Cornwall is The Prince of Wales.

The Duke of Cornwall uses the term to describe what is effectively a property company (though it pays no corporation tax), and has holdings throughout the country, with possessions totalling 571 km² (or 135,000 acres). Nearly half of the holdings are in Devon, with other large holdings in Cornwall, Herefordshire, and Somerset. Annual profit in 2004 was £13,143,000.

The Duke of Cornwall is still being given many unique statutory "privileges, exemptions, powers, rights and authority" in Cornwall, (Tamar Bridge Act 1998, s.41, and other Acts) on account of his "birth" for personal profit. (ECHR Article 14). In the remaining part of the United Kingdom former Crown land is managed by a public body for public benefit. They comprise, the Duchy of Lancaster (Duchy of Lancaster Act 1988), and "The Crown Estate (which) has no holdings in Cornwall". (Their letter: 5th January 2005).

These public bodies are, significantly, unlike the Duchy of Cornwall, statutorily obliged to be involved in the provision of public services and are not under the direct control of the Monarch as the beneficiary of a portion of the proceeds.

As a Crown body, the Duchy is tax-exempt, but since 1993 The Prince has voluntarily paid income tax - at 40% - on his income from it. The Prince had always paid a voluntary contribution to the Treasury of 50% of his Duchy income from the time he became eligible for its full income at the age of 21 in 1969, and 25% after his marriage in 1981. Tax is calculated after deducting business expenditure, the biggest source of which is The Prince's staff of around 90 - from private secretaries to a valet - working in his office at Clarence House, and at Highgrove House. Detailed records are kept to determine the split between public and private expenditure.

For Cornish nationalists and regionalists (see the constitutional status of Cornwall), the Duchy has quite a different significance[1]- based on the original Acts and Charters of its creation. Cornwall itself in this framework is described as a Duchy (as opposed to an ordinary county), and the Duchy estates are distinguished from the Duchy itself, having themselves been annexed and united to "the aforesaid Duchy". The Duke of Cornwall may even be described as Cornwall's head of state. For example, the Duke traditionally had a ceremonial role in summoning the Cornish Stannary Parliament. It should be noted, however, that the administrative machinery of Cornwall almost invariably refers to itself as a county (including, for example, Cornwall County Council itself) in the English language, although it can be argued that the administrative county and Duchy in this sense are separate, co-existing entities. However two government constitutional reviews have recommended that Cornwall be officially referred to as a 'duchy.'

The Duchy was established in 1337 by Edward III of England for his son, Edward, Prince of Wales.

Both the Duchy of Cornwall and its counterpart, the Duchy of Lancaster, have special statutory rights not available to other estates held by peers: for example, the rules on Bona Vacantia operate in favour of the holder of the Duchy (as opposed to the Crown generally), and there are separate Attorneys General for the estates. Generally, though, the exemptions all tend to follow the same line: any rights pertaining to the Crown generally in most areas of the country instead pertain to the Duke of the Duchy.

In 1780 Edmund Burke sought to curtail further the power of the Crown by removing the various principalities which existed.

… the five several distinct principalities besides the supreme …. If you travel beyond Mount Edgcumbe, you find him [the king] in his incognito, and he is duke of Cornwall …. Thus every one of these principalities has the apparatus of a kingdom …. Cornwall is the best of them….

See also

*The Wikipedia Cornwall Portal
*Duke of Cornwall
*Duchess of Cornwall
*Cornwall
*UK topics
*List of topics related to Cornwall

External links

*The Duchy of Cornwall at The Prince of Wales's website
*Duchy Originals the Duchy's organic produce brand
*Tyr Gwyr Gweryn The Duchy charters, Cornish foreshore case and much more in full
*Guardian Unlimited article
*Celtic Frontier or County Boundary? Competing discourses of a late nineteenth century British border