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Duchy of Cornwall

Duchy of Cornwall
Flag of the Duke of Cornwall.svg Arms of the Duchy of Cornwall.svg
Creation date 17 March 1337
Monarch Edward III
Peerage Peerage of England
First holder
Present holder HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales

The Duchy of Cornwall (Cornish: Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits possession of the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at birth or when his parent succeeds to the throne, but may not sell assets for personal benefit and has limited rights and income as a minor. If the monarch has no male children, the rights and responsibilities of the duchy belong to The Crown and there is no duke. The current duke is Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

The principal activity of the duchy is the management of its land totalling 135,000 acres or 550 km2. Nearly half of the holdings are in Devon, with other large holdings in Cornwall, Herefordshire, Somerset and almost all of the Isles of Scilly. The duchy also has a financial investments portfolio. For the fiscal year ending 31 March 2013, the duchy was valued at £763 million, and annual profit was £19 million, a revenue surplus gain of 4.1% from the previous year.

The Duchy Council meets twice a year. The duchy also exercises certain legal rights and privileges across Cornwall, including some that elsewhere in England belong to the crown. The duke appoints a number of officials in the county and acts as the port authority for the main harbour of the Isles of Scilly.

The government considers the duchy to be a crown body and therefore exempt from paying corporation tax. The tax position of the duchy has been challenged; thus, since 1993, the Prince of Wales has voluntarily paid income tax on the duchy income less amounts which he considers to be official expenditure.

The duchy was established on 17 March 1337 by the Royal Great Charter out of the former Earldom of Cornwall by Edward III for his son, Edward, Prince of Wales, the "Black Prince", who became the first Duke of Cornwall. Additional charters were issued later by Edward III. The duchy consisted of the title and honour, and the land holdings that supported it financially. The charter afforded the duke certain rights and responsibilities in the county, including the right to appoint the county's sheriff and to the profits from the county courts, the stannaries and the ports. The duchy estate, which was based on the holdings of the previous earls, did not comprise the whole of the county, and much of it lay outside Cornwall. The extent of the estate has varied as various holdings have been sold and acquired over the years, both within Cornwall and in other counties.


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