The Prince William Duchy of Cornwall ‘Family Angle’ Comment King Charles ‘Couldn’t Believe’: ‘It Reduced Me to Tears’
Making a tribute to King Charles III at the coronation concert wasn’t the first time Prince William’s words seemed to make his father emotional. In a 2019 documentary, the now-king confessed how his oldest son’s remarks on the Duchy of Cornwall left him “deeply touched.”
Prince William took over the Duchy of Cornwall when King Charles ascended the throne
Lots of things changed when Queen Elizabeth II died on Sept. 8, 2022. Among them: the transition of the Duchy of Cornwall from King Charles to his heir, the new Prince of Wales. The Duchy is a private estate dating back to 1337. The purpose? To fund the heir (via Vanity Fair).
William inherited the estate, which includes not only vast areas of farmland across England and Wales but also commercial businesses. Said to be worth more than $1 billion, the Duchy’s become a multi-million dollar source of income.
In 2021 alone, it reportedly brought in $25 million for the king, the former Prince of Wales. Today, it funds all things public, private, and charitable for William and his family.
William ‘reduced’ King Charles ‘to tears’ with a 2019 comment about inheriting the Duchy of Cornwall
In the 2019 ITV documentary, Prince Charles: Inside the Duchy of Cornwall, William and the now-king discussed the Duchy. For his part, William remarked on the “family angle,” calling it “really important (via Express).
“I’ve started to think about how I will inherit the Duchy one day,” he told farmers. “Well, rest assured I’m not going to rock the boat; I’ll do much the same as what my father’s doing. I’m not so into the architecture — that’s the only thing.”
Moments later, the now-king stepped in front of the camera and confessed to being somewhat astonished by William’s comments on the Duchy of Cornwall.
“When I saw it, I couldn’t believe it,” King Charles said. “I was deeply touched and moved by what he said. Frankly, it reduced me to tears. It did, really. Because, I suddenly thought, well, just hearing that from him has made the last 50 years worthwhile.”
William plans to put public housing on the Duchy of Cornwall estate
As for what William will do with the Duchy of Cornwall, the 41-year-old teased what’s ahead in a June 2023 interview.
William told The Sunday Times of London he’s “absolutely” committed to putting public housing on his Duchy of Cornwall estate. “You’ll see that when it’s ready,” he said. “I’m no policy expert, but I push it where I can.”
Getting housing somewhere on the 130,000 acres of land is “front of mind” for William. Hee plans to “start small” and go from there.
Meanwhile, he’s expected to unveil a five-year project via the Royal Foundation before June 2023 ends. Overall, William wants to “prevent,” not “manage” homelessness. He also wants to “elevate” awareness and get “more collaboration” in an effort to “change the narrative.”
William also shared in the same interview he’s talked to his and Kate Middleton’s three children, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, about homelessness during drives to and from school.
“When we were in London, driving backwards and forwards, we regularly used to see people sitting outside of supermarkets and we’d talk about it,” William said, noting he’d “say to the children, ‘Why are they there? What’s going on?’”
