Email from Republic:
What's the problem?
The Duchy of Cornwall, which Prince Charles runs as his own private business, is exempt from lots of different laws. Either a law doesn't apply to the Duchy or the Duchy will face no consequences if they break the law.
Now the government is planning major reforms of leaseholder rights. The reforms will mean people who own their homes but not the land their home stands on will find it easier to buy the land, and will be better protected from unscrupulous land owners.
Unless you live on Duchy land.
Already Duchy tenants are excluded from the right to buy the freehold, which would give them ownership of the land under their home. In this country we're not all equal in the law, if your landlord is Prince Charles. These reforms are an opportunity to put that right, but Charles is already lobbying to get exempted from the new reforms.
Write to your MP today!
Please write to your MP by visiting www.republic.org.uk/MyMP. Tell them Charles can't be allowed to get away with demanding more exemptions from the law. Even if your MP is a staunch royalist, they might agree with you on this point. Even if they don't, we need to make them aware of the strength of public opinion on this issue.
Your emails to your MP make a difference. So please, get writing!
Best wishes
Graham Smith
CEO, Republic
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UPDATE, from the BBC:
The Queen was shown legislation which may have forced her to reveal her private finances in the 1970s "by convention", Buckingham Palace says. Papers published by the Guardian suggest the monarch's personal lawyers successfully lobbied to change a draft law to conceal her wealth.
Sunday, 7 February 2021
Write to your MP. Tell them Charles can't do this.
My latest blogpost: Write to your MP. Tell them Charles can't do this.Tweet this! Posted by Mark Wadsworth at 15:47
Labels: Prince Charles, Republic, Royal family
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6 comments:
Also true for the Nazional Trust and the Church of England AFAIK.
Also, this is mostly a case of windfall-seeking. People who bought leases cheaply because the leases were short, because the leaseholders were never going to be able to buy the freehold, because the leases contained onerous clause or some combination of these, now want to cash in by buying the freehold and allowing their property to revert to its full market value. Just because the freeholder is a prince and rich, doesn't make it any different in principle.
See also people who buy pubs, close them down and then try to get PP for conversion to residential.
B, yes of course, but that isn't the point.
I think, strictly speaking. Charlie is on firm ground (pun intended.) A 'freehold' is (i think) legally a perpetual lease of land from the Crown with no actual rent payment. So, in theory, he's paying tax on what he, The Crown, already has a monopoly ownership of. Furthermore in the UK, we are all 'subject's of the Crown and us and our property is ultimately 'owned' by the Crown. e.g. we have income tax 'allowances' as - in theory all of our income belongs to the Crown. HMRC can have all of it, but kindly lets us keep some.
I am not saying it's right. At all.
L, arguably yes. The point is the he is acting here as a private individual and not on behalf of 'the Crown'. We pay our income tax to 'the Crown' and not to members of the Royal Family (who aren't 'the Crown' anyway, it is a vague legal concept).
MW. Hmm. I think he is acting as part of 'The Firm'.
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