No one is as adept at playing the British people for fools than Windsor family members.
They are doing so again by taking £1.5m a year from British taxpayers until 2033 in rent on a building that is useless, Dartmoor Prison.
The rent is paid to the Duchy of Cornwall,.
The Duchy is a public asset holding the profits of which are given to the son of the hereditary head of state, under Britain’s feudal system.
But in a demonstration of how badly the British have fallen for the monarchist trick even a usually financially astute publication as the Financial Times can write of the duchy that it is a “part of the private assets of the Prince of Wales”.
The prison has been found to be “unusable” because of the presence of radioactive gas.
The current lease was signed in 2022 although a dangerous amount of the gas had been found in 2020. As a result the prison was closed in 2024.
The lease cannot be terminated and the rent must be paid until December of 2033. And despite the closure the taxpayers must also pay for £68m in improvements during that time.
Whatever happens the Windsors profit. The people pay.