Prince Charles & Camilla Parker Bowels

[Munday's Chylde]

Actually this has just reminded me... whatever happened to that secret news story that max clifford was supposed to be sitting on which was going to wash the monarchy down the plug hole? The one which rumours insisted involved Charles being caught in bed with a bloke? Remember?

[butnut]

Yeah, I was wondering about that too, Munday's. Is this marriage an attempt to deflect any future revelations?

[Adrian Brezhnev]

I would imagine that somebody told him what really happened to his friend Diana, and since then he has decided not to even think about the royals again.

[difbrook]

The Independent's front cover today was *astonishing*. Columns and columns of headlines of yesterday's news with a massive banner headline that said "and here's all the other news you might have missed".

and right down at the bottom right hand column in tiny lettering, white on black, "Charles and Camilla to wed. Page 6".

I wouldn't have thought a newspaper would have it in them to be so angry in such a moral way. Good on them.

w.

[Bean Is A Carrot]

Actually this has just reminded me... whatever happened to that secret news story that max clifford was supposed to be sitting on which was going to wash the monarchy down the plug hole? The one which rumours insisted involved Charles being caught in bed with a bloke? Remember?

My theory on this one, based on no evidence whatsoever...

There have been plenty of gay rumours abour Prince Edward but never any about Prince Charles prior to last year's butler scandel. Could it not be that Chazza was named as the "mystery royal" in order to deflect the rumour mill away from Eddie? Was there ever any proper evidence about Chazza and a butler in bed, other than the say-so of the butler? And whilst I'm at it, what is the evidence of Eddie being gay (other than rumour)?

[Doctor Stamen]

The Independent's front cover today was *astonishing*. Columns and columns of headlines of yesterday's news with a massive banner headline that said "and here's all the other news you might have missed".

and right down at the bottom right hand column in tiny lettering, white on black, "Charles and Camilla to wed. Page 6".

I wouldn't have thought a newspaper would have it in them to be so angry in such a moral way. Good on them.

w.

[difbrook]

that's the chap. Apologies for the misquote. But you get the idea!

w.

[Pinball]

A Cornish friend of mine was pissed that Camilla will become Dutchess of Cornwall (or something). I told her that I figured it doesn't matter squat 'cause the title don't mean a thing. I mean maybe she can flay Dutchmen on the third saturday of a leap year if they're caught whistling while they piss, but beyond that ... not a great deal. Unless anyone would care to enlighten me.

I believe the reason Charles is called the Duke of Cornwall is because his Estate owns a large chunk of it. So it does matter. We do not live in a meritocracy. However hard you work, I wager the best you will get is a 5 bedroom detached house. Not Cornwall. The remaining power of the aristocracy is in their land ownership. You'd be amazed how the countryside is split up amongst them!

Edit:

In what will be the latest embarrassment for the royal family, an analysis of the Duchy of Cornwall's accounts reveals that his income has soared from £3 million in 1993 to almost £12m last year.

The duchy was a gift from the Queen on the prince's 21st birthday. It is now worth more than £460m yet pays none of the normal business taxes. Charles receives all his income from the estate, which owns 144,000 acres of land and runs a commercial enterprise including the sale of organic food products.

Charles saw his salary jump £2m last year after his tenants' rents increased.

Yet despite now being worth more then £460m, the duchy enjoys lucrative tax breaks that exempt it from paying corporation tax and capital gains tax.

Over the last decade it is estimated to have cost the taxpayer more than £20m. In 1999 the Duchy sold thousands of shares to help fund a £50m property deal. He made a large profit on the share sale, yet paid no tax on this. One expert told The Observer he estimates this could have saved Charles some £10m.

[Pinball]

And isn't it amazing that Blair made his apology yesterday? And "the wedding" is occurring just before a general election?

Amazing coincidences...

what has that got to do with it?

Please explain this "conspiracy" to me.

It just struck me as efficient news management, is all. A bit like Blair holding a child when he arrived in Newcastle, and behaving like a President generally. Spin spin spin.

Still, this is the guy who got away with invading another country based on no evidence. Mr Teflon.

[Pinball]

The prince of property and his £460m business empire

MPs are to probe the complex financial affairs of the Duchy of Cornwall that let Charles sell his own trees to himself and pocket the cash

Antony Barnett
Sunday January 30, 2005
The Observer

Any fan of the royal family driving past the Punchbowl industrial park in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, is unlikely to think twice about the grey warehouses Yet this drab piece of commercial real estate now has its own blue blood connections.
The large Wickes distribution depot at one corner of Punchbowl may be a far cry from the grand surroundings of Highgrove, the rolling hills of Dartmoor or the 'idyllic' Poundbury village in Dorchester. But like all these chunks of valuable real estate, the Wickes warehouse is now proudly owned by Prince Charles.

An Observer investigation has revealed that the heir to the throne is reaping record returns from property acquisitions channelled through the Duchy of Cornwall, Charles's 700-year-old estate given to him by his mother in 1969 as a 21st birthday present.

Next week the Duchy of Cornwall's finances will for the first time come under independent public scrutiny. On Monday 7 February, the powerful House of Commons Public Accounts Committee will begin calling witnesses as they probe the inner workings of the opaque Duchy accounts. As our analysis shows, MPs on the committee will have plenty to quiz the royal accountants about.

Unlike the Queen, who is paid through the Civil List, Charles gains his money through the duchy. Last year his estate awarded him an income of almost £12 million - a 20 per cent rise on the previous year. An analysis of the duchy's historic accounts reveals that since 1993, when the Prince of Wales was paid £2.9m, he has enjoyed a 300 per cent pay rise. This is equivalent to more than 25 per cent a year during a period when average earnings rose by 5 per cent a year.

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In large part, Charles' soaring pay has come from the transformation of the duchy into a huge commercial enterprise. It still owns vast tracts of land, including 70,000 acres in Devon, 18,000 acres in Cornwall, 15,000 acres in Somerset and practically all of the Isles of Scilly. He still also owns landmark properties such as the Oval cricket ground in London.

But Charles has also been collecting office blocks, retail outlets and a string of businesses in a series of astute transactions which belie the commonly held belief that Charles is little more than a do-gooder who talks to plants.

The most important plants to him are those he sells through the Duchy Nursery, along with premium-priced organic biscuits, jams and sausages through the company Duchy Originals. The entire operation is now valued at £463m, although financial analysts believe this is a substantial underestimate. Yet despite its lucrative business dealings, the duchy, because of its royal heritage, is exempt from corporation tax and capital gains tax.

A quick analysis of its operations reveals this tax break to have been hugely valuable to the Prince and is estimated to have saved him a tax bill of some £20m over the past decade. But it is this tax exemption that threatens to be the latest embarrassment for the royal family. At the top of the agenda for the Commons inquiry is whether this multi-million-pound tax break gives value for money.

Snaking through the Tamar valley in north Cornwall are the 130-acre Greenscombe Woods owned by the Duchy of Cornwall for centuries. Its canopy is not full of traditional oaks; instead, the valley's southern slopes are clothed in tall Douglas firs, Western red cedars and Leyland spruces, grown as part of the duchy's timber business.

But it is not just the trees that make Greenscombe distinct. Its uniqueness derives from a peculiar financial transaction that occurred six years ago when Charles was in need of cash after his expensive divorce settlement.

The Prince of Wales cannot, by law, sell any part of the duchy estate. Yet in a creative accounting ruse that would make many in the City proud, Charles claimed he owned the trees personally, not the duchy. This allowed him to sell thousands of trees growing on duchy land back to the duchy and earn £2.3m in cash. In effect, he sold the trees to himself and pocketed the proceeds.

'This is certainly one transaction we will want to investigate thoroughly,' said Labour MP Alan Williams, who sits on the public accounts committee. 'We need to be confident that Prince Charles is not abusing taxpayers' money in any way.' Duchy officials say that Charles was the driving force for developing the woodland and used his income to maintain the trees. They claim that he would only have benefited from the trees when they were felled and then sold for timber.

Another controversial area that the Commons inquiry is likely to examine is the cost of funding the office of his partner, Camilla Parker Bowles. Last year's duchy accounts revealed for the first time she was an official member of the household. It stated: 'Income from the Duchy of Cornwall is used to meet personal expenditure for the Prince of Wales, Princes William and Harry, and some personal costs of Mrs Parker Bowles.'

It is understood that Charles provides her with two part-time secretaries, a driver and a gardener for her Wiltshire home. The Prince also pays for her bodyguards, travel, jewellery, clothes, an adviser and stabling for her horses. She also now has an office at Clarence House.

One former senior palace official told The Observer that the Duchy of Cornwall is being driven by Charles's need to make more money. 'He has growing sons, a more visible high-profile partner and professional passions that need ever-increasing amounts of money.'

Last summer Sir Michael Peat, Charles's private secretary, published a review that was meant to show that Charles led a simple life. They showed that Charles was a major benefactor to charity and worked hard to fulfil his public duties. But they also revealed his lifestyle is far from frugal.

His jump in salary let him increase the staff from 91 to 113. His 28 personal staff include secretaries, a chef, grooms, valets, gardeners, estate workers and domestic staff. Much of his lifestyle costs are written off against tax. In 2003 it emerged he wanted polo bills listed as a business expense. The review said Charles only owned one car, yet failed to mention he leases a fleet of luxury vehicles. At the time Peat said: 'The Prince of Wales ... is exceptionally hard-working and gives the majority of private money to fund his duties and official work.' The Commons committee will be testing that assertion.

[Ambient Sheep]

BUMP.

Just bothered to check my POP3 email account (not much used in all my house-moving), and last week's Popbitch says there's a rumour going round the nation's newsrooms that the Queen has a terminal illness, hence all the rush to get C & C rapidly married before she goes.

[Pinball]

No wonder Charles is so excited. I wonder if the prick will have to pay inheritance tax? (I think we know the answer....)