Something like a company, which invests mainly in land (mostly in the south-west of England) and with the income benefiting the Duke of Cornwall who is normally the monarch's eldest son. The biscuits are meant to be quite good.
The London estate of the Duchy is all in Lambeth, chiefly the old manor of Kennington, the Oval cricket ground and lands around. From the 1937 LCC publication ‘London Housing’ : “The Duchy of Cornwall … as long term leases have terminated, the obsolete houses have been demolished and new houses or blocks of dwellings have either been built by the Duchy or the land sold or leased to the Council or the Lambeth Metropolitan Borough Council for similar development, some 18 acres of land having been disposed of in this way. The actual amount of rebuilding carried out by the Duchy is as follows : - 1905-1913, 187 ; 1914-1916, 167 ; 1922-1926, 188 ; making a total of 542 dwellings.”
