Role
The duchy is not the property of The Crown, but is instead the personal (inherited) property of the monarch and has been since 1399, when the Dukedom of Lancaster, held by Henry of Bolingbroke (Henry IV), merged with the crown on his appropriation of the throne (after the dispossession from Richard II). The Loyal Toast, 'The Queen, the Duke of Lancaster' is still in frequent use within the Duchy.
The chief officer of the Duchy is the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a high position which is sometimes a cabinet post but always a ministerial post. Since for at least the last two centuries the estate has been run by a deputy, the Chancellor has rarely had any significant duties pertaining to management of the Duchy itself. He is usually available as a minister without portfolio. In recent times his duties, administrative, financial and legal, have been said to occupy an average of one day a week.
The monarch derives the Privy Purse from the revenues of the Duchy. The surplus for the year ended 31 March 2010 was £13.382 million and the Duchy was valued at nearly £348 million. The lands of the Duchy 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 civil list payment.
Read more about this topic: Duchy Of Lancaster
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