Breaking News: Prince William accused of running ‘slush fund’ by Republican politician as he launches scathing attack on Royal Family; He’s Very…
Breaking News: Prince William accused of running ‘slush fund’ by Republican politician as he launches scathing attack on Royal Family; He’s Very Greedy
Prince William has been accused of running the Duchy of Cornwall as a “slush fund” on behalf of The Firm by a former Republican politician in scathing attack on the Royal Family’s spending.
Norman Baker, a former Liberal Democrat MP, attacked The Firm over its use of public money as he claimed it was a “cheek” that Buckingham Palace said King Charles was “being generous” because he only takes 12% of the Crown Estate’s income.
Mr Baker served in David Cameron’s coalition government with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 to 2014. The former politician attacked the Firm’s private estates such as the Duchy of Cornwall, which Prince William inherited when Charles became King.
But he alleged that the Royal Family loved to nickname Duchies ‘private estates’ claiming they are “held in trust for the nation” before accusing the family of running them as “royal slush funds.”
A slush fund is a reserve of miscellaneous income and expenditure that is often not accounted for in official records; typically associated with illicit activity.
In a column the Mirror, Baker wrote: “The royals love to call the Duchies “private estates” but they are not owned by the royals but held in trust for the nation. They are simply royal slush funds.
And the priority is to make as much money for the royals as possible. They charge the NHS over £1m to park ambulances in a derelict warehouse in London. They charge the army to yomp over Dartmoor as they rehearse to fight for king and country. They charge the cash-strapped Ministry of Justice millions in rent for the now empty Dartmoor prison.
“Meanwhile, William helps himself to close on £20m last year from the Duchy of Cornwall, a personal income over a hundred times that of the Prime Minister. His father is estimated to have a private wealth of some £2billion.
The Monarch is set to receive an official income of £132 million from the estate. The grant had remained at £86.3 million for the past four years but increased thanks to its surge in profit.
Baker claimed that the Royal Family do not care “how much public money they spend” claiming they racked up a bill of £1.2million on chartered flights around UK including “difficult places” like Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle.
He added: “Buckingham Palace pretends the royals are being prudent with public money. What utter hogwash. They even have the cheek to suggest that Charles is being generous because he only takes 12% of the income of the Crown Estate.
“Reality check: the Crown Estate has in effect been a public body since 1760, and until 2011, 100% of its profits went to the Treasury to pay for schools, hospitals, defence and, yes, disability benefits. This 12% is a new royal tax on the public purse.”
He criticised the expenditure to “protect” minor royals that the public has “barely heard of” claiming the cost is now upwards of £500 million per year as he claimed every “other European monarchy costs less that £50m.
Baker added: “The shocking truth is that the royals really don’t care… And don’t keep lecturing us about climate change, please, when you are in the top 1% of the world’s emitters.
He concluded: “Charles has put out the spin that he wants a slimmed down monarchy, but he clearly doesn’t want a slimmed down bill for the taxpayer. The bulging royal coffers are overflowing.
“The one bit of good news is that the ridiculously expensive royal train is to be retired. But unless Charles is prepared to cut the taxpayer bill drastically, there will be plenty calling for him and his family to follow the train into the sidings.”
