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The Office of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall publishes its Annual Review
26th June 2007
The Office of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall has published its Annual Review.
The Household of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall reduced its carbon emissions by 9 per cent last year, and has set a target to reduce emissions by at least another 12.5 per cent by 2012.
The size of the Household’s carbon footprint, calculated at 3,425 tonnes of CO2 in 2006-07, is published today for the first time in the 2007 Annual Review.
The reduction in carbon emissions last year was due to a number of factors, including fewer journeys taken by plane and helicopter and more by car and train, the introduction of ‘green’ electricity from sustainable sources at Highgrove, and the conversion of The Prince’s official cars to 100 per cent bio-diesel fuel from used cooking oil.
The Review shows that in 2006-07 The Prince of Wales undertook 632 official engagements, of which 86 were overseas, and The Duchess of Cornwall undertook 222 engagements, 60 of them on official foreign tours.
Among the themes that feature in the latest Review are: the work undertaken on behalf of the Government by The Prince and The Duchess on overseas tours in what was an exceptionally busy year for foreign trips; The Prince’s efforts to highlight the threat posed to the environment by climate change and to reduce the carbon footprint of his own Household; and The Prince’s work through his charity The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment to encourage, and advise on, the creation of more livable, human-scale homes and communities in the UK and abroad.
The Review also shows that last year The Prince helped raise, directly or indirectly, £119 million for his 18 main charities. During the year, two newly-established organisations – The Prince’s Teaching Institute (based at Cambridge University), and The Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Kabul, Afghanistan – joined the Prince’s Charities group.
Duchy Originals, His Royal Highness’s organic and natural foods and products company, made a profit of more than £1 million for the fourth consecutive year, on increased retail sales of £53 million. All the profits from Duchy Originals go to the Prince’s Charities Foundation.
As it does each year, The Review details how the work of The Prince and The Duchess is funded. Their Royal Highnesses do not receive a Civil List or a Parliamentary Annuity, but use the income from the Duchy of Cornwall to pay for their official activities, supported by The Queen’s Grant-in-Aid funding to provide assistance with official travel, property and communications.
The Prince of Wales’s income from the Duchy of Cornwall in 2006-07 rose by 8 per cent to just over £15 million, principally reflecting increased income from the commercial property portfolio and from financial investments. The Prince chooses to spend well over half of his after-tax income from the Duchy in support of his official work.
As in previous years, the Annual Review explains The Prince of Wales’s role by breaking it down into three principal elements.
- Undertaking royal duties in support of The Queen
- Working as a charitable entrepreneur
- Promoting and protecting what is best about Britain
Introduction - click here
Supporting The Queen - click here
Charitable Entrepreneur - click here
Promoting and Protecting - click here
Income, Expenditure and Staff - click here
Notes to editors
The Household’s carbon footprint was calculated with the help of Forum for the Future, the sustainable development charity. The Household offsets all its emissions (except for those from official overseas tours taken at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth office) through Climate Care, the specialist offset agency.
Click here to visit the document downloads section to read the Annual Review.