Since becoming the Prince of Wales, William has to travel away from Kate and their children ‘every four to six weeks’ due to one major royal responsibility
Prince William is the current Duke of Cornwall(Image: Chris Jackson/PA Wire)
As part of his royal duties, Prince William travels all over the UK and abroad for official engagements, where he meets people, speaks with charities, and gets his hands dirty.
While the Prince of Wales prioritises spending time with his family, there is one major role that sees him have to head across the country every few weeks.
When William became the Prince of Wales after his father King Charles ascended the throne, he became the owner of the Duchy of Cornwall; an extensive land and property empire, which provides a private income to the heir to the throne of approximately £23million a year.
Prince William on a visit to Duchy farmland(Image: PA)
In a previous interview with The Telegraph, it was revealed that William “tries to visit part of the Duchy once every four to six weeks, working his way through its farms and offices to meet families and staff, shake hands and quiz them on what he can do to help.”
The publication added that the prince’s visits are usually private, “rarely making the Court Circular and kept quiet by loyal locals who are used to royal comings and goings”.
The regular visits take him away from his home life in Windsor with his wife, Princess Kate, and their three children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – where they live in Forest Lodge.
The monthly visits take William away from his family(Image: Getty Images)
As well as chairing a quarterly meeting of The Prince’s Council and attending numerous other committees, William reportedly communicates with the Duchy’s staff on WhatsApp. The Duchy comprises an extensive portfolio of land, properties and agricultural land primarily in south-west England, spanning 128,494 acres of land across 20 counties, and is valued at more than £1billion.
While William is committed to maintaining the Duchy of Cornwall portfolio, reports emerged in May that will reportedly sell 20 per cent of the portfolio over the next 10 years, and use the money to invest in tackling the housing and nature crises.
According to The Times, William will consolidate his Duchy of Cornwall holdings around five geographic “heartlands”, focusing on the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Dartmoor, the Bath area and Kennington, south London.
William inherited the Duchy of Cornwall from his father King Charles(Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
Will Bax, chief executive of the Duchy of Cornwall, told the publication that William decided the duchy “shouldn’t just exist to own land. It should first and foremost exist to have a positive impact on the world”.
Mr Bax said of the plan to sell off about a fifth of the duchy estate: “If we don’t see an opportunity for positive impact, then perhaps we don’t need to be a part of that place.”
“But where there is social need and where there is environmental challenge and where there is an opportunity to enable change, then we’ll be a great partner in working with people to achieve that.”
Mr Bax said the prince planned to invest £500 million, made up from land sales, development income, partnerships and borrowing, into his priorities. On a visit to Duchy farmland on Dartmoor last year William vowed: “We’re not the traditional landowner – we want to be more than that.”
He added: “The Duchy has been a positive force for good, but we can do so much more. I think the key thing is, it’s about not losing the important community and historical links of the Duchy. But it’s also about making sure we’re building on and enhancing, modernising the Duchy. We’re going to modernise it without losing its key spirit of community.”
