Prince Charles and the Duchy of Cornwall.

Callistemon even before that , I was thinking of Russia

Not silly but logical conclusions based on actual knowledge of what happens when property eg farms, is confiscated by the state.

aggie anyone who knows anything at all about eg Zimbabwe will know how disastrous that has turned out to be.

Some silly comments here. I think people know what I mean.
I'm not going to try to explain what history books will explain much better.

Communism doesn't work. I agree.

Providing an income.. definitely not minimum wage!.

I'm off. ?

We did, Anniebach, but proving it over 50+ years could be difficult!

If you call it feudal
Oxford University owns much of Britain too - one of my ancestors worked for the "feudal university" and the system is still going strong today.

The Forestry Commission
C of E
NT
RSPB
The Army
A Danish entrepreneur owns much of Scotland

Why not confiscate it all including anything privately owned, and put it into the hands of the state?

Oh dear ! I enjoyed the programme .
What happened in some countries when the land was confiscated and town dwellers were made to farm it ? The place went to wrack and ruin , far better having centuries of farming experience , be it tenant or inherited from the “gentry”
Back to Charles , he has turned the land back to production and is giving employment

Anyone who inherits a family home must prove the person they inherited the property from paid all their taxes ?

annepl I totally disagree with your post.

Should we have our business confiscated on our death, depriving 3 of our children their livelihood along with all,our employees.........?????

Whew, isn't he rich! I enjoyed that programme. The feudal system is alive and flourishing ,today ,in Britain.

Communism does not work

Oh dear, does that mean I should not be allowed to leave my mansion and acres to my DC and that the state should confiscate it?
Is the fact that it has increased considerably in value since we bought it somehow dishonest?

does this apply to everyone who inherits family property
annepl ?

Exactly Eloethan, that's how they acquired their fortune. Totally wrong and not comparable to those who worked hard for what they have.
People who acquire their wealth from ancestors who didn't achieve it by honest means should have it confiscated. Imo.

Tenant farmers all have a landlord. The Church of England owns a lot of farms which are let to tenants. During the eighties many family farms were bought by insurance companies and the like for 'lease back' in order to release capital to the farmer.

The Duchy is offering opportunities for young people to get on the farming ladder as well as supporting their existing tenants.

Adam Henson of Countryfile fame doesn't own a square inch of his farm.

I didn't hear any complaints.

12th on the list of landowners in GB, I think, Gonegirl

NT and RSPB are near the top.

Who said they found it onerous?

I doubt many nonogenarians (sp?) carry out the number of duties that HM undertakes, nor many 70 year olds such as PC.

OK, they don't have to do their own cleaning, washing, ironing etc.but I wouldn't swap my life for their lives of public duty and all in the goldfish bowl.

Funny, isn't it, that our Royal Family (with some exceptions) are loved the world over except by some at home.

Charles doesn’t own the Duchy,

I like Charles. And the Queen. But I imagine they could be hard taskmasters.

Oh no! I don't know Callistemon. It's just that there is far more of the Duchy than I imagined. I thought it was all down in Cornwall! Just one big estate.

I know nothing As usual.

When did the queen go to war ?

but more people are helped to get on in life.

No-one has to live on the Duchy Estate - they could seek a life elsewhere and there will always be a queue of people waiting to take their place.

I don't know, Eloethan but perhaps you could ask some of the young people who have been helped on the road to success by eg the Prince's Trust when all their efforts seemed to be in vain.

Is that exploitative?

Ask someone who works for The Prince's Trust how and who they help.

Better that than the magnates who employ people on exploitative wages then steal their pensions to fund a life of luxury overseas.

It may be paternalistic but

Forcing Diana ?

Under pressure, Luckygirl

I cannot imagine how it must feel being forced into an arranged marriage when your heart lies elsewhere.

They are quite at liberty to give up their positions if they are finding it all too onerous. With the amount of money and assets they have amassed, they have far more choices than their so-called subjects who have to work in order to live sometimes the most basic of lives.

It is worth remembering that this sort of royal hero worship goes back through the ages, even when kings and queens were carrying out monstrous acts and grabbing all the money while the peasants starved. Things only changed when some started to question why a few ordinary people should be held in such high esteem and should have the power to go to wars in an effort to grab even more assets -and to levy taxes on the poor to pay for it.

In this day and age, I find it surprising that anyone can justify the continuance of such an archaic and exploitative system, with very disreputable origins - but I think younger people are no longer as forelock tugging as the older generation and one day things will change.

Documentaries of this sort are just part of the PR machine.