Британ монархының Ланкастер Герцогтығы: Жеке меншік және кіріс көзі

Private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster

The Duchy of Lancaster is a private estate of the British sovereign. The estate has its origins in the lands held by the medieval Dukes of Lancaster, which came under the direct control of the monarch when Henry Bolingbroke, the then duke of Lancaster, ascended the throne in 1399. In 1461 King Edward IV confirmed that the Duchy would be inherited by the monarch, but held separately from the Crown Estate, the other assets which belong to the monarch. The Duchy consists of a portfolio of lands, properties, and assets held in trust for the sovereign. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income. The Duchy consists of of land holdings, including rural estates and farmland, urban developments, historic buildings, and commercial properties across England and Wales, particularly in Cheshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Savoy Estate in London. As of the financial year ending 31 March 2022, the estate was valued at £652.8 million. The net income of the duchy is paid to the reigning sovereign and amounts to about £24 million per year. which includes the current ceremonial counties of Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside, as well as the Furness area of Cumbria. The Duchy of Lancaster is one of two royal duchies: the other is the Duchy of Cornwall, which provides income to the Duke of Cornwall, a title which is held by the monarch's oldest son.

As the Lancaster inheritance, the estate dates to 1265, when Henry III granted his younger son, Edmund Crouchback, lands forfeited by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. In 1266, the estates of Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby, another protagonist in the Second Barons' War, were added. In 1267 the estate was granted as the county, Honour and Castle of Lancaster. The Duchy thereafter passed to the reigning monarch. On the death of King Charles I, the Duchy came under the control of Parliament; this lasted until the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. In 1760, its separate identity preserved it from being surrendered with the Crown Estates in exchange for the civil list. It is primarily a landed inheritance belonging to the reigning sovereign (now Charles III). When George III surrendered his income from Crown lands in exchange for the Civil List, the duchy of Lancaster was not mentioned at all as it was bankrupt for most of the century, due to previous monarchs selling its assets or granting leases for political favours. The monarch now does not have the right to sell off the capital assets for personal gain. In 2017, the Paradise Papers revealed that the Duchy held investments in two offshore financial centres, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. Both are British Overseas Territories of which Queen Elizabeth II was monarch, and the governors of those territories were nominally her appointees. While Bermuda has been self governing since 1620, the internal autonomy of the Cayman Islands is informal; also, Britain handles the foreign policy of both territories. Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn posited that the Queen should apologise, saying that anyone who keeps money offshore for tax avoidance purposes should "not just apologise for it, [but] recognise what it does to our society." A spokesman for the Duchy said that all of their investments are audited and legitimate, and that the Queen voluntarily pays taxes on income she receives from Duchy investments. The Duchy's investments were revealed to include First Quench Retailing off licences and rent to own retailer BrightHouse. The palace later stated that offshore investments had been exited by 2019. The former position is sometimes held by a cabinet minister, but is always a ministerial post. For at least the last two centuries the duchy has been run by a deputy; the chancellor has rarely had any significant duties pertaining to its management but is available as a minister without portfolio and is answerable to Parliament for the effective running of the estate. The monarch derives the privy purse from the revenues of the duchy. The surplus for the year ended 31 March 2015 was £16 million and the duchy was valued at just over £472 million. Its land holdings are not to be confused with the Crown Estate, whose revenues have been handed to the Treasury since the 18th century in exchange for the receipt of a yearly payment. The Duchy Council's primary officers carrying out the estate's day to day duties are the clerk of the council of the duchy of Lancaster (the chief executive officer), the chairman of the council, and the chief finance officer. The chancellor is responsible for the appointment of the steward and the barmaster of the barmote courts on behalf of the sovereign in right of the duchy. Since the Local Government Act 1972, the monarch in right of the duchy appoints the high sheriffs and lords lieutenant in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire.

Both the duchy of Lancaster and the duchy of Cornwall have special legal rights not available to other estates held by peers or counties palatine. For example, in the United Kingdom bona vacantia ("ownerless property") is generally administered by the Crown, but within the county palatine is administered by the duchy.

As of the financial year ending 31 March 2022, the estate was valued at £652.8 million. The duchy of Lancaster is not subject to tax, but as the monarch has voluntarily paid both income and capital gains tax since 1993 income from the duchy is taxed in practice. Revenue surplus or income from the Duchy of Lancaster has increased considerably over time. In 1952, the surplus was £100,000 a year. Almost 50 years later in 2000, the revenue surplus had increased to £5.8M. In 2010, the revenue surplus stood at £13.2M, and by 2017, the surplus had grown to £19.2M.