How the Prince of Wales runs his vast £1billion Duchy of Cornwall via WhatsApp

Prince William runs his Duchy via ‘WhatsApp’, his secretary and record keeper has revealed.

Alastair Martin, who worked under both King Charles and his heir at the Duchy of Cornwall, reflected on the differences between the two.

He said while “sustainability is a passion we both share”, the king “would phone me” while the Duke of Cambridge “will Whatsapp me”.

“There will be weekends where my WhatsApp messages will be in double figures and I will be very responsive,” he said. “If anything went right or wrong, I’ll want to tell my boss and he’ll be right back.”

Accounts published on Wednesday show the Duchy made profits of £23.6m in 2023-24, down slightly from £24m the previous year.

Last year, William received around £6m from the Duchy as he became Duke of Cornwall midway through the financial year following the death of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.

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The duchy also asked to keep an additional proportion for the day-to-day running of the estate.

Graham Smith, chief executive of the Republic, which is campaigning for an elected head of state, said, also referring to the King’s Duchy of Lancaster estate: “It is outrageous that while we are facing a sustained cost of living crisis, we actually pay Charles. and William more than £20 million every year.

He accused the royals of being “tax wise and running around like crazy to justify these increases”.

He added: “They keep claiming that the duchies are their own private property, which is not true.

— Ducats are property of the state. It’s time their profits were redirected to public services and local communities, not the pockets of two billionaires.

Kensington Palace, providing an annual update on the activities of William and the Princess of Wales for that financial year, said the number of staff in the couple’s household had increased from 50 to 66, including secondees.

Diversity figures show 14% of staff were from an ethnic minority, down from 16.3% of staff the previous year.

The palace said the prince paid tax at a standard UK tax rate once official costs were deducted, but the amount he paid in tax was not disclosed.

The King, as the former Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, revealed the voluntary tax he paid in his annual assessment to Clarence House – £5.892 million in 2021/22.