He says the heir to the throne has the chance to ‘right some ancient societal wrongs’
Powderham Castle, Devon, the current home of Charles Courtenay
An aristocrat has slammed Prince William for his duchy sale plans – saying the Royal should give him lands back to right the wrongs of Henry VIII. Charles Courtenay, the 19th Earl of Devon, says William should reconsider ”selling his stolen manors for value”.
He says the heir to the throne’s plans to sell duchy property would only be ”crystalizing Henry the VIII’s theft”.
The Earl, 50, who lives in Powderham Castle in Devon, says his ancestor was beheaded for resisting Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon – and had his lands annexed. Now Charles Courtenay, a barrister and hereditary peer, says William should give them back and ”I promise to look after them”.
Last week it emerged Prince William is overhauling the Duchy of Cornwall and will sell 20% of the estate over the next decade. The Earl of Devon made his comments in a letter to The Times, which was read out on Times Radio.
It said: ”Sir I was interested to read the Duke of Cornwall plan to sell one fifth of his Duchy.
”While distributing his feudal largesse Prince William might consider the manner in which his Duchy was created in the first place and right some ancient societal wrongs of his own.
”In Spring 1540, Henry the VIII annexed 28 manors to the Duchy of Cornwall 13 of which had been seized from their traditional owner Henry Courtenay, the Earl of Devon, who was imprisoned and then beheaded for resisting Henry VIII’s divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
”Rather than selling his stolen manors for value thereby crystalizing Henry the VIII’s theft, the Prince of Wales might consider returning them to their rightful owner setting a bold example of regional cultural repatriation. I promise to look after them.”
A presenter on Times Radio said the letter was extraordinary – and couldn’t work out ”if it was tongue in cheek”.