‘The duchy is changing. We’re learning as we go…’

It looks like Prince William was especially chatty last Friday during his visit to the Isles of Scilly. Not only did William give a somewhat lengthy and live radio interview, he also gave exclusive quotes to Roya Nikkhah at the Times of London. If you ask me, William has always given Nikkhah exclusive quotes, it’s just that he is usually credited as a “senior royal source” or “insider.” Anyway, William told Nikkhah all about his big plans to transform the Duchy of Cornwall by selling off a fifth of the duchy’s assets and building affordable housing.

The Prince of Wales has said he wants to be a “force for good” with the Duchy of Cornwall, pledging that his £1 billion estate is “evolving” and must be “open to change where it is needed”. Prince William, 43, who controls the 128,000 acres which generate more than £20 million a year in profit, acknowledged the duchy had not got everything right under his stewardship and that he is “learning as we go”. He has been criticised after it emerged that the duchy, bestowed on every heir to the throne since the 14th century, was charging public services and charities millions of pounds in rent.

In 2024, an investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches revealed the Duchy of Lancaster, which belongs to the monarch, and the Duchy of Cornwall were making millions of pounds a year in tax-free profits by charging charities, the armed forces, the NHS, schools and the prison service for the right to use lands, rivers and seashores.

Last week the prince, whose titles include the Duke of Cornwall, spent two days visiting some of his new duchy projects in the southwest. These include a £3 million social housing development at Nansledan, a suburb of Newquay, which will provide 24 homes for those at risk of homelessness.

Reflecting on his visits and his future plans, William told The Sunday Times: “I care deeply about ensuring the duchy has a positive impact for the people and communities connected to it. We have a responsibility to think about the future, to be open to change where it is needed, and to use what we have in a way that helps support others and strengthens communities for generations to come.”

The duchy is collaborating with William’s Homewards initiative and St Petrocs, a homelessness charity, which will also offer mental health support, counselling, training and employment opportunities. The first residents will move in this summer and it is understood that William plans to build more social housing across other duchy sites.

The long-term aim is to help people move from temporary accommodation at Nansledan into permanent homes. William said: “We’re beginning to show what this evolving approach can look like in practice, using our land to create opportunity and support people who need stability most. Access to a safe home is a vital part of that, but it’s only one piece of a much bigger picture around health, opportunity and long-term resilience. This is not about claiming we’ve got everything right, but about testing new ways of working, alongside partners and people with lived experience, to create places that offer not just shelter, but the foundations for a more secure future.”

“The duchy is changing. We’re learning as we go, and the answers are not always simple, and we cannot do it alone. The challenges facing people today are complex and deeply connected, and we cannot address them in isolation. By focusing our efforts, working with the right partners and staying ambitious about what’s possible, I believe the duchy can play a meaningful role as a force for good.”

Last year the duchy stopped imposing rents on lifeboat stations, the fire service, village halls and school playing fields, acknowledging it had taken time to “reflect” on the Sunday Times investigation.

[From The Times]

We all criticize William about a lot of things and most of it is deserved. But I have to say… I don’t hate any of this? Like, he’s building affordable housing, he’s partnering with homeless initiatives, he’s actually trying to solve some big problems in local ways. He stopped charging rent on public works, and the duchy construction projects might work out and actually benefit the right people. It’s actually… working out the way he wants it to work out. He set a goal and he’s spent the past three-plus years putting these projects together. Would I still like to see an audit of the duchy? For sure. But I actually wonder if an audit might reveal that William is spending duchy money like a drunken sailor on all of these projects.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.