Elsewhere within this site, I drew attention to 'officialdom's' oft-mentioned and contrived perplexing conundrum as to the reason why Edward III created the Cornish Duchy. Within the page on the 'Duchy of Cornwall', I show that this was clearly stated by that king within the associated documents of creation. However, despite such feigned official confusion, it is now impossible to read anything about the Duchy of Cornwall without being told quite categorically, and unequivocally, that it was created to "provide an income". The Duchy's own website states (TGG highlighting):

"The Duchy of Cornwall is a well-managed private estate which funds the public, charitable and private activities of The Prince of Wales and his family. The Duchy consists of around 54,764 hectares of land in 22 counties, mostly in the South West of England.

The Duchy estate was created in 1337 by Edward III for his son and heir, Prince Edward, and its primary function was to provide him and future Princes of Wales with an income from its assets. A charter ruled that each future Duke of Cornwall would be the eldest surviving son of the Monarch and the heir to the throne.

The current Duke of Cornwall, HRH The Prince of Wales, is actively involved in running the Duchy and his philosophy is to improve the estate and pass it on to future Dukes in a stronger and better condition."

The TGG website exists, inter alia, to show that the Duchy of Cornwall is NOT a 'private estate' and, in passing, it is worth stating in the strongest possible terms that any income does NOT go to the Prince of Wales. This is another English Imperial 'half-truth'! The income goes to the Duke of Cornwall (irrespective of how many constitutional hats that individual wears!) for the reasons given in the first Duchy Charter, 17th march 1337, which qualified the grants as:

"…therefore we have given and granted for us and our heirs, and by this our present charter have confirmed to our same son, under the name and honor of Duke of the said place, the castles, manors, lands, and tenements, and other things under written, in order that he may be able to sustain the state and honor of the said Duke, according to the nobility of his birth, and the more easily to support the burthens incumbent in that behalf…"

It has also to be said, repeatedly, that the Duke of Cornwall [who just happens to be the Prince of Wales], is NOT "actively involved in running the Duchy", but is only 'involved' in managing the private estates that were "annexed and united" to The Duchy. The 'burthens incumbent in sustaining the state and honor' of the Duchy of Cornwall go much further than simply managing a few country estates and involves - or, at least, should involve - the government of Cornwall. There is no acknowledgement, by the English Imperial State, that the grant of the vicecomitatus also involved 'public' revenues. The sooner that the constitutional chicanery and Royal lies about the Duchy of Cornwall and its proper relationship to Cornwall are confronted, the sooner we shall see some improvement in Cornish Rights!

The sources of income granted to the Dukes, as covered in the charter, already existed under the Earldom and were granted all, or in part, to previous Earls of Cornwall. The status of these grants to the Earls were inconsistent but were all part of the territorial honor known as Terra de Cornubia. The rather problematical Earldom of Cornwall, therefore, was consolidated and augmented to a Duchy and granted to the heir to the throne, as Duke, to ensure that he had priority of rank over others. The actions of Edward III were to formalise the peerage and parliamentary representation and guarantee loyalty. A process of Royal Patronage did this, at a time when status was directly related to wealth and property (land) ownership.
NB. For a detailed understanding of what happened under Edward III., see "Edward III and the English Peerage" - Royal patronage, social mobility and political control in 14th-century England. (J S Bothwell, 2004 ISBN 1 84383 047 7)

It seems from the Duchy website, that we should also be asking why the Prince of Wales is being subsidised by income from the Duchy of Cornwall? What about his other constitutional positions? If these do not provide any form of income, then why is the Duchy of Cornwall so peculiar in this respect?

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