William shares touching Kate update following her cancer treatment – latest

The royal family have been accused in Parliament of levying charges on land that “doesn’t really belong to them”.

The criticism came after a Sunday Times and Channel 4 expose was published on the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, which fund the King and the Prince of Wales.

The report revealed that the royals are making millions of pounds a year by charging government departments, councils, businesses, mining companies and the general public via a series of commercial rents and feudal levies on land seized by medieval monarchs.

Lord Berkeley, who questioned the legitimacy of this ownership, said he has seen the effects of this where he lives on the Isles of Scilly, where most the land and nearly a third of the residential buildings are owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

He said: “We’ve got one example of farmers on the Isles of Scilly, [who] want to see an abattoir built so they don’t have to transport animals to the mainland, which I think is a very good idea.

“The Duchy said, ‘well you can have the land’ – well, many of us think that they don’t own the land anyway, but leaving that to one side – they allocate land to an abattoir, they are then going to charge the farmer for using it.

“Is that right when the land probably doesn’t really belong to them and they’re not contributing to the cost?”

The Prince of Wales has told his Earthshot Prize finalists “we are here for you” as he geared up for the awards ceremony being staged in Cape Town.

William chatted to the 15 environmental entrepreneurs in the picturesque setting of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in the shadow of Table Mountain.

He told the group: “You are all amazing. You should be immensely proud of yourselves. The whole Earthshot team loved hearing about your ideas, the solutions you are all coming up with, and I hope you’ve found it beneficial to be here together and creating such a great vibe.

“We are here for you for the next 12 months and I want to get around to see as many of you as possible, but good luck tonight.”

The Prince of Wales described Kate as “amazing” as he spoke to reporters in South Africa ahead of tonight’s Earthshot Prize awards in Cape Town.

She’s doing really well thanks. Hopefully she’s watching tonight and cheering me on,” he said. “She’s been amazing this whole year and I know she’ll be really keen to see tonight be a success.”

Kate has been largely out of the public eye as she underwent preventative chemotherapy following her cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

In September, she revealed she had completed her treatment and was focusing on “staying cancer free” in a heartfelt video featuring herself, William and their three children.

In exciting news for royal fans, Buckingham Palace has announced it is set to open up its East Wing outside the traditional summer tourist season.

The expanded programme follows the success of this year’s annual summer opening, when it welcomed a record-breaking number of visitors and allowed access to the wing – which includes the famous central balcony – for the first time since it was built 175 years ago.

The 90-minute guided tours, from January to May and costing £90, will offer a more in-depth look at the history of the rooms in the East Wing at a time when the palace is not usually open to the public.

Early in the King’s reign, it was reported Charles planned to give people greater access to the palace all year round.

For the first time, visitors will be able to enter through the palace’s front gates and proceed across the forecourt, just as guests do for official royal events.

King Charles is facing calls to dissolve his lucrative private estates and refund the cash-strapped NHS after it emerged he is making millions from renting out ambulance parking spaces and sub-standard properties.

Charles has been asked to reconsider an £11.4m deal struck by the Duchy of Lancaster last year to store a fleet of electric ambulances, owned by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust in London, in one of the estate’s warehouses for 15 years.

Campaigners described the deal as “disgraceful” and a “money-grabbing activity” which ought to be reconsidered by the King.

“I think it is disgraceful actually, given the NHS is under so much pressure, for the Royal Family to charge for ambulance parking and other NHS uses,” Dennis Reed from Silver Voices, a campaign group for elderly people, told The Daily Mail. “[It] sounds rather like a money-grabbing activity. And I would hope because of the publicity there will be a rethink in the Royal Household.”

In her new documentary, Camilla is seen visiting a refuge and speaking candidly with domestic abuse survivors about their deeply personal experiences.

Earlier this year, Camilla backed The Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign to build two new refuges for women fleeing abuse. Thanks to generous donations from readers the initial £300,000 target has recently been reached, with more than £500,000 of donations pouring in so far and plans are already underway for the building of a second home.

Speaking about the importance of refuges in the documentary Camilla says: “You flee and you arrive at this haven. Room of their own, a door they can lock. And as time goes by, they start having their confidence restored and start their life anew.

“These refuges are literally life savers. Without these refuges, where would they go?”

The King and the Prince of Wales’ private estates have struck rental deals worth millions of pounds with the armed forces, the NHS and state schools, it has been reported.

An investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and the Sunday Times examined the land and properties the two leading royals own through the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.

The investigation reported that last year the Duchy of Lancaster agreed a deal to store a new fleet of electric ambulances, owned by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust in London, in one of the estate’s warehouses at a cost of £11.4 million over 15 years.

It also said the Duchy of Cornwall had charged the navy more than £1 million since 2004 to build and use jetties and moor warships on the Cornish coastline.

The duchy will also earn around £600,000 over the lifetime of six different leases agreed with local state schools, the investigation found.

King Charles and Prince William are facing calls to dissolve their private estates after it was revealed they are making millions from Britain’s cash-strapped NHS and public services.

The two estates earned the royals upwards of £50mn in the last financial year, with both estates being exempt from paying corporation tax or capital gains tax.

The monarch and heir to the throne have sparked uproar after it was revealed they are benefiting from rental deals with public services – including the armed forces and state schools – on their private estates, the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.

“The solution is quite simple, abolish the Duchies,” spokesperson for Republic, Graham Smith, said.

He added: “The Dispatches investigation shows how the Duchies are doggedly pursuing profit at every turn, at huge expense to the public and charities.

“The Duchies are not private property, they are state assets. Parliament allowed the royals to maintain control over these estates when other land was surrendered three centuries ago. It’s time parliament abandoned that arrangement.”