Cornish campaigners call for Duchy to be abolished

With it's 53,408 hectares of land and an array of commercial interests the Duchy of Cornwall is a multi-million pound business which provides an income for the Prince of Wales just as it did back in 1337 when it was created by Edward III for his son and heirs.

The terms of the original charter means Prince Charles cannot benefit from the sale of Duchy land or other assets but he can draw an income from rents and other commercial interests like food producer 'Duchy Originals'. Today campaigners will demand that the 674 year old estate is broken up saying the Duke of Cornwall uses it as a power base for interfering in local politics.

A new campaign group 'Republic' is calling for the abolition of the Duchy and is meeting for the first time this afternoon. It wants to encourage debate about the Duchy and its assets saying one option would be to gift part of the estate to the people of Cornwall or allow its tenants the right to buy their land and properties with the proceeds going to the treasury.

Prince Charles is known to take an active interest in running the Duchy, precisely what campaigners say they object to. But defenders of the current system will point to the fact that much of the income generated helps to fund Prince Charles' public duties and charitable work. Today's 'Republic' meeting is being held at 1:30pm in the Truro Community Library.