Royal news live: King Charles and William ‘making millions from NHS and public services via property empire’….see more

The King and the Prince of Wales are set to earn millions from public services and charities via their property empires, a bombshell new report has claimed.

The privates estates of both Charles and William – the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, respectively – have struck rental deals worth millions of pounds with the armed forces, the NHS and state schools, according to an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and the Sunday Times.

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.

It comes as a royal writer claimed the King will cut financial ties to the disgraced Duke of York after he refused to move out of his home.

Prince Andrew’s £1 million “living allowance”, received every year, has been withdrawn by Charles as he continues to seek to distance himself from his younger brother, according to Robert Hardman in the serialisation of his new book, published by the Daily Mail.