MPs on the Public Accounts Committee failed to bring Charles Windsor to account last week when they questioned his business managers about the exemption of the Duchy of Cornwall from corporation tax.
The Duchy is a public body from which Windsor is allowed to take the income, amounting to about £19m last year.
William Nye, a Windsor family official, told the committee that the Duchy did not pay corporation tax because it is not a company. He claimed that the income tax paid by Windsor on his take from the Duchy amounted to much the same amount as would be paid in corporation tax. Tax experts quoted in the Financial Times confirmed that claim.
The Committee did not question the case for paying Windsor £19m a year for the dubious responsibilities of being son of the head of state. The president of the United States is paid only £300,000. One Conservative committee member commended the feudal robbery.