Cornish Pirates Fundraiser Lands Amid Duchy of Cornwall Sale Plans
The Cornish Pirates rugby team raised more than £18,000 in a charity fundraiser where the Duchy of Cornwall was lead foundation partner, Hello magazine reported. The Duchy is the estate that Prince William now runs. It is also the subject of a land sale plan that has prompted objections from tenant farmers.
A duchy is a landholding attached to the title of Duke of Cornwall, which is traditionally held by the heir to the throne. The Duchy of Cornwall is a £1 billion property portfolio. It passed from King Charles III to William when his father became king in 2022, and William became the 25th Duke of Cornwall.
The estate spans 23 counties in England and Wales and covers 128,000 acres, according to the BBC. It includes the Oval Cricket Ground in London and 67,000 acres of Dartmoor in Devon.
In May 2026, the BBC and The Times reported that William plans to sell about a fifth of the Duchy, or 20%, over the next ten years. The money is intended to fund reinvestment in housing and nature projects. Reuters reported that William plans to invest £500 million in tackling housing as part of the plans.
One of the planned sales is the 3,000-acre Bradninch Estate in Devon. Tenants said they feared the sale could threaten their homes and livelihoods. Possession orders, the legal notices that require a tenant to leave, give farmers and renters six months to buy their properties or move out.
Later in May, William visited a Duchy housing project. Reuters reported that the visit was meant to show how the estate is being used to help communities.
Money is the other part of the picture. The Duchy's 2025 annual report, published in June 2025, said property made up 75% of its income in 2024/25, down from 81% in 2023/24. The Duchy said the fall came from the sale of a major commercial property. A June 2026 report in the Mirror put the land and property income at about £23 million a year.
The fundraiser and the land plans sit side by side on the Duchy's calendar.
