The “duchy” has raked in more than £60 million in such funds over the last decade, which it has claimed was being donated to charity. But “internal duchy documents” (yes, this is a real thing) show that much of the funds are actually being used to renovate the king’s real-estate holdings, some of which are then rented out for his own profit
Apparently, Queen Elizabeth II approved using these bona vacantia funds for upgrades in 1987 and again in 2019. Such renovations include double-glazed windows (nice!), log burners, and new roofs. In one case, an old farmhouse was renovated partially using these so-called bona vacantia funds, only to be rented out as a four-bedroom home for £1,450 per month.
The feudal-era practice was signed into law by the Parliament in 1925 but, as The Guardian reports, “why this was done is not known.” Meanwhile, it has helped King Charles, a landlord, amass a private fortune that is estimated to be worth £1.8 billion.
Since we’re talking about him;
I kinda think he’s pivotal to a lot of techbro brain-worms getting treated as though they’re the default common sense position. Like, his neutral classroom-friendly presentation acts to cover and launder a lot of ideology. The Simple Solution to Traffic is probably the most obvious example, and I’d guess it’s the one with the largest impact (hint: he doesn’t think trains are the ‘solution’). Perhaps the most egregious, though, is Why Die? and it’s companion video Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant. The former argues the usual techbro nonsense about the end of death being just around the corner – maybe even within your lifetime! And the latter is a narrated animation of a children’s book written by Nick Bostrom.
It’s not just limited to specific videos. Usually the topic is well researched and educational, but the brainworms leak in through visuals and tangential comments. Go back through the archive, he used to throw in references to bitcoin whenever he could (doesn’t do that one so much now, interestingly…). There’s these two videos, How to be a Pirate Captain and How to be a Pirate Quartermaster, which are actually a really interesting look at how pirates organized themselves in the early/pre-modern era – but in one of them he just flat out claims that DNA decides your personality.
I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
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