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.

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[–] BeanBoy@hexbear.net 55 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Relax he’s just a figurehead with no real power at this point

[–] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 23 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't think CGPGrey had any real political power at any point but okay.

(Ayyy)

[–] Wheaties@hexbear.net 11 points 11 months ago

definitely more popular than the king. i know that's a low bar, but it must count for something?

[–] HumanBehaviorByBjork@hexbear.net 5 points 11 months ago

even if it was true and he was just a monstrously wealthy removed without political office or special privilege, i'd still want to line him up against a wall with his family and shoot the lot

[–] Tunnelvision@hexbear.net 48 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I feel like that’s not even something he would have to hide? Like yeah that’s definitely something I would expect a king to do. This is why the British need to stop playing pretend and just get rid of these people already.

[–] HumanBehaviorByBjork@hexbear.net 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

the pretend part is that they're a modern, civilized democracy

[–] 4zi@hexbear.net 42 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Is the term landlord even appropriate since he’s a king and not a lord

[–] plinky@hexbear.net 35 points 11 months ago (1 children)

i thought lord broadly describes, you know, lording over something?

[–] 4zi@hexbear.net 54 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I mean lord broadly describes someone who needs their head chopped off so I guess it’s appropriate in the end

[–] The_Jewish_Cuban@hexbear.net 19 points 11 months ago

Sorry Jesus 😔

[–] anarchoilluminati@hexbear.net 27 points 11 months ago (1 children)

four-bedroom home for £1,450 per month.

Uh, anyone know if they're leasing?

[–] CyborgMarx@hexbear.net 9 points 11 months ago

That's a goddamn steal

[–] DragonBallZinn@hexbear.net 27 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The Royal family are literally just government funded LARPers. I honestly feel bad for UK citizens they have to indulge in this giant LARP.

[–] silent_water@hexbear.net 12 points 11 months ago

France's biggest W

[–] privatized_sun@hexbear.net 26 points 11 months ago

insert Trashfuture bit about the "incomplete bourgeois revolution"

[–] SaniFlush@hexbear.net 24 points 11 months ago

No wonder the UK is so fucked up

[–] Infamousblt@hexbear.net 23 points 11 months ago (8 children)

Wait is CGP grey a bad dude

[–] Great_Leader_Is_Dead@hexbear.net 66 points 11 months ago (7 children)

He had a really bad video defending the British monarchy cuz "muh tourist money". Ignoring French killed their monarchy and still get buckoo tourist bucks.

He also took a Telsa to the "most dangerous road in America" to test out the self driving. Said road was a well paved two lane in Kentucky that's only dangerous cuz it attracts a bunch of motorsports enthusiasts, and he was clearly there at a time where there was hardly anyone there. So yeah the autopilot works okay on bendy well paved roads, Whoopty Doo! Even his fans kinda called him out on that one.

I'm sure he's a perfect pleasant human being but he's clearly a naive tech bro lib who thinks everything would be awesome if le epic science nerds ran everything.

[–] YearOfTheCommieDesktop@hexbear.net 37 points 11 months ago

I'm sure he's a perfect pleasant human

i-think-that I am not sure of that

[–] Kosh@hexbear.net 29 points 11 months ago

Buckingham palace is a dump too.

Versailles is fucking really nice and it comes with the bonus of knowing that the family that lived there all got got.

[–] Infamousblt@hexbear.net 24 points 11 months ago

Oh yikes. Libs can make treats if they keep their lib shit to themselves but...sounds like he can't manage that.

[–] Wheaties@hexbear.net 20 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

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.

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[–] CrushKillDestroySwag@hexbear.net 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I got to ride in a Tesla recently, the autopilot literally failed within thirty seconds of pulling away from my house where it tried to cross the double yellow on the road right outside my neighborhood. After that my uncle said that it really only works on the highway and he didn't try using it again lmao.

[–] Great_Leader_Is_Dead@hexbear.net 10 points 11 months ago

Some More News video on self driving cars is one of their better videos

[–] GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

He had a really bad video defending the British monarchy cuz “muh tourist money”. Ignoring French killed their monarchy and still get buckoo tourist bucks.

Whoa, I don't remember this. Which video?

[–] Wisp@hexbear.net 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Not going to bother rewatching that garbage but I think it’s this one https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw

[–] GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Wow. Yeah. That video is really, really skewed. And the response from Shaun rips it apart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiE2DLqJB8U

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[–] Zoift@hexbear.net 35 points 11 months ago

He lib

[–] AernaLingus@hexbear.net 32 points 11 months ago (1 children)

He made this video uncritically parroting royalist talking points (earning him a well-deserved dunk from skullboy)

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[–] emizeko@hexbear.net 24 points 11 months ago (1 children)

apologist for the uk monarchy

[–] Infamousblt@hexbear.net 14 points 11 months ago

Very yikes

[–] zed_proclaimer@hexbear.net 21 points 11 months ago

Yeah he’s an absolute empty headed turbo lib who regurgitates liberal ideology

[–] egg1918@hexbear.net 14 points 11 months ago

Yeah he drives a Tesla

[–] HumanBehaviorByBjork@hexbear.net 6 points 11 months ago

he's cringe and dumb, but not a fascist, so in the top 30% of internet personalities.

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[–] LeZero@hexbear.net 23 points 11 months ago

how-compelling

[–] Tachanka@hexbear.net 21 points 11 months ago (3 children)

apparently the Brtish royals are trying to regain lost power

Legislation effectively outlawing protests.
Arrests of people attempting to raise republican placards on the 6th of May.
His Majesty's Ministers overruling Parliament in introducing the above.
Future move to digital currency asserts Crown power against the old bourgeois financial order.
Partial restoration of the Crown Estate to the person of the Monarch
The Royal family is entitled to 25% of the revenue of the Crown Estate; Basically publicly owned land and mineral rights.
This is a huge retrogression even from the early days of bourgeois power.
In 1793 the Crown had given up the estate to the treasury in return for a Civil List grant.
The Cameron gov. reversed this by handing 25% back to the monarchy.
The King receives an annual income (in kind) of about 209 million pounds.
The King controls, uses, or derives revenue from around 9.6 billion in assets.
The king's top 9 palaces are worth about 3.5billion pounds, for which he and his family pay no rent, and all of which is maintained at the public's expense.
The King receives from the public, in exchange for nothing, as much as 8,500 average subjects earn per year.
The tourism that the monarchy supposedly brings in to the UK is maintained by the working class and still brings in less revenue than the tourism in Republican France.

ukkk

[–] silent_water@hexbear.net 11 points 11 months ago

well, yeah. like any reform, it lasts until the political will to keep it intact remains. given the right circumstances, he'll dissolve parliament too.

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[–] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 20 points 11 months ago

I wish HRH King Charles a very happy ride on a V22 Osprey helicopter.

[–] Dolores@hexbear.net 20 points 11 months ago

i just think CGP Grey's US citizen should've been revoked if he's such a simp for jolly old england

[–] barrbaric@hexbear.net 17 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Kill all royals.

[–] operacion_ogro@hexbear.net 9 points 11 months ago

owned

[–] HumanBehaviorByBjork@hexbear.net 7 points 11 months ago

i mean, what basis would they even criticize him on? they're a feudal nation with a king. that means their country is basically owned by one family. if your royals are doing what royals do, behead the roaches.