Royal Mint, National Debt: The Shocking Truth About The Royal Finances
by Norman Baker, Biteback, £22
Ref: https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/royal-mint-national-debt

In his irreverent and uncompromising bestseller … And What Do You Do?, former Minister of State and Privy Counsellor Norman Baker laid bare what the British royal family didn’t want us to know, namely its extravagant use of public money and general bad behaviour.

This sensational sequel goes even deeper in its analysis of royal finances, examining where the money comes from, how it is used and what has changed with the arrival of a new king.

Amongst many other things, it reveals how a family that was effectively bankrupt in 1760 is now one of the richest in the country; how they lobby governments and the media to maximise their profits from the public purse; and how they take advantage of a uniquely beneficial tax and legislative regime.

Packed with details on the acceptance of dodgy donations; the appropriation of official gifts for personal use; and the exploitation of public bodies including the NHS, churches and charities, who are charged punitive rates for the use of Duchy-controlled land, this eye-opening exposé also includes a chapter on Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and his money-making endeavours, including his friendships with convicted fraudsters, paedophiles and spies.

Pulling no punches, this is the book the royal family really don’t want you to read.
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YouTube interview with Norman Baker about his new book here: King Charles and Prince William’s Secret Billions: Norman Baker on Royal Finances
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Morning Star Book Review
Exposure of the Royal rip-off
23 December 2025
JAMIE BRITTON reaches for the sick bucket as he is forced to engorge detail after detail of the Royal Family’s wealth

Ref: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/exposure-royal-rip

Royal Mint, National Debt: The Shocking Truth About The Royal Finances
Norman Baker, Biteback, £22

IF ever a book should come with a public health warning this is it! Either that or the reader should prepare to have a sick bucket nearby and a large quantity of Rennies to be consumed after they have finished it.

Baker follows up to his forensic study of the royal finances, And What Do You Do?, by going even deeper into where the money comes from, how it is used, and how the royals lobby governments and the media for maximum profit. It is all here in sordid detail. How the NHS and charities pay them to use Duchy-controlled land, and how they increase their profits by mixing with crooks and other dubious individuals.

Yes, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Sarah Ferguson are here. By the time you have finished Chapter 8, Andrew’s Unsavoury Circle, you might find a Rennie will come in handy to quell the rising heartburn and flux you will undoubtably feel.

What I found most interesting in this book was the chapter on the Sovereign Wealth Fund. It shows clearly how monarchs go about reducing parliamentary and public scrutiny of their financial dealings. In 2025 the royal settlement for the year ahead was a 53 per cent increase in funding for the royals. This bitter pill was sugared by the decision to axe the royal train. “King cuts back on bills” screamed the headlines! In fact, as Baker points out this was not a saving at all as the royals were to benefit from two new “carbon-busting” helicopters that vary in price between £150,000 and £500,000. As Baker states: “Expect the royals to plump for something at the top end as they are not paying.”

In Chapter 9, Upstairs, Downstairs, Baker lists the ludicrous lifestyle hidden from the public. The fact that Queen Elizabeth II needed ten servants to serve her afternoon tea; the sandwiches having to be cut in certain ways so that they had no corners on them; that King Charles must have several eggs boiled for his breakfast so that he can have the perfect one to suit his preference at the time; the unspeakable Andrew calling a maid up four flights of stairs to open his curtains. Curtains he was sitting right next to.

But wait! I hear you ask. Isn’t William going to slim down the monarchy? All this is made clear in Chapter 3, Mercenary Duchies, and Chapter 12, A New Beginning, where Baker shows that things have got worse “in terms of the vast sums of public money now being directed to this, one of the richest families in the country.”

So the next time the media deems fit to present a future king, with family, in a field of daffodils, or the king raising a glass of stout towards us: remember, they are not smiling. They are laughing at us. Laughing all the way to the bank.

Pippa Middleton ready for a rumble with The Ramblers’ Association after shutting footpath at her £15million mansion

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15706723/Pippa-Middleton-Ramblers-Association-shutting-footpath-15million-mansion.html

When Pippa Middleton and James Matthews paid £15 million for a 32-room red-brick Georgian mansion set in 145 acres of Berkshire countryside, they surely thought they had found the perfect sanctuary to raise their young family in privacy.

But the Princess of Wales’s younger sister and her hedge-fund tycoon husband now find themselves in a battle with furious locals, after they barred dog walkers and ramblers from going through their grounds.

The couple will now have to persuade a government-appointed planning inspector next month that they are within their rights to withdraw long-standing access to the track.

Grade I-listed Barton Court, which sits on the River Kennet near the village of Kintbury, was previously owned by the late retail tycoon Sir Terence Conran, who allowed locals to use Mill Lane, which winds through the estate.

But when the couple arrived in 2022 with their three children – Arthur, seven, Grace, five, and Rose, three – they wasted little time in closing off the lane with an electric gate.

Signs warning ‘Private: No Public Access’ and ‘No Trespassing’ appeared around the perimeter.

Thirty-five residents, backed by The Ramblers Association, applied to West Berkshire Council to have Mill Lane declared a public right of way.

The council sided with the villagers, but Mr Matthews, through his land agent, then objected.

Do YOU think that access to this footpath should be made public?

No, it’s on private property
Yes, people have used this lane for a long time

Next month a planning inspector will hear representations from both sides before making a legally binding ruling.

Eugene Futcher, chairman of West Berkshire Ramblers, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The public have had  for a very long time – certainly before the 1960s.’

‘Taking it away will be inconvenient, especially when walking is so important. It will force people on to the main road, which is very dangerous.

‘There is no footpath or verge.

‘The paths were never closed under Conran – he actively encouraged people to use them.’

Rob Brown, 68, a Kintbury resident since 1985, said: 1 don’t think they give a damn about what anyone in the village thinks.

‘They’re not very popular in the area. They think they’re better than everyone else. They re not even the proper Royal Family

‘Closing the path is a nuisance. Conran was better for the area.’

Peter Clegg, 68, said: I don’t know who they think they are. They think they can decide who can walk where and when.

‘It’s not on. It’s not like people are trampling on arable fields. People have been walking there for a long time. It shows a lack of respect.’

A resident of 20 years added: ‘I understand their need for privacy, but you can’t move into a village and demand that people change their ways.’

The footpath dispute is not the only source of friction since the couple arrived in Kintbury.

Plans to renovate the mansion stalled after archaeologists warned that work could disturb prehistoric remains on the site.

And last year a party to mark Mr Matthews’ 50th birthday drew complaints over late-night music.

On Thursday April 1st, protesters in London occupied the exclusive Mayfair antiquarian bookshop belonging to the absentee landlord at the centre of the rent dispute hitting hill farmers in the Knockmealdowns in Waterford, Eire. A proposed 900% increase in rent by Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire
will drive these traditional farmers off the land their families have tended to for centuries.

   

Sheep farmers 900% rent increase issue raised in Dáil
The Munster Express, 28th Mar 2026

Ref: https://www.munster-express.ie/sheep-farmers-900-rent-increase-issue-raised-in-dil/

The issue of a proposed 900% rent increase for sheep farmers leasing land in the Knockmealdown Mountains was raised in the Dáil last week.
A group of farmers, who lease the almost 8,000 acres of land on the mountains from Lismore Estate, which manages Lismore Castle on behalf of the Duke of Devonshire and his son the Earl of Burlington, recently spoke out after they were told that the rent they pay will increase up to €50 per hectare in 2029.

The farmers on the commonage told media that they had previously been paying €5 per hectare for over 20 years. The figure increased to €15 in 2024, and €17.50 in 2025. They were recently told by Lismore Estate that it will now increase every year up to 2029.
One sheep farmer, Thomas Fitzgerald said there are concerns they will be ‘hunted’ off the land by the increase, and he has refused to pay the increased rent until it can be negotiated. In response, Lismore Estate has refused to provide him with a letter of evidence to prove he is leasing the land.
Sinn Féin TD Conor D. McGuinness raised the issue to the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon in the Dáil last week.
“I want to raise the issue of hill farmers on the Knockmealdown Mountains in County Waterford,” Deputy McGuinness said. “They are currently in dispute with a landlord over exorbitant rent increases. I know the Minister will not intervene but the Department has effectively taken a side in an ongoing dispute here in holding these farmers over a barrel because no farm payments are being issued while the dispute goes on because of the requirement to provide a commonage-evidence letter.
“This is effectively the State siding with the landlord. These farmers rely on that farm payment. They farm other lands as well as the ones that are in dispute. This has echoes of darker times in our history when absentee landlords pushed farmers of the land. The Department needs to take a realistic look at this,” he added.
In response, Minister Heydon said: “I am aware of the particular case in Waterford that Deputy McGuinness has raised. It is a bit beyond the scope of this question. The issue of single farm payments comes down to who is the active farmer. That is the position on that question. I hope a resolution can be found in the near future”.
Deputy McGuinness said that the response received by the Minister was “wholly inadequate” and confirms that the Government is “taking a hands off approach.”
He added: “These farmers are facing rent increases of up to 900 percent. At the same time, they are being denied access to their farm payments because they cannot produce a commonage evidence letter while the dispute is ongoing. That leaves them trapped, under pressure, and with their livelihoods at risk”.
“This has echoes of darker times when absentee landlords pushed Irish farmers off the land. That is a comparison that should deeply concern this Government.
“The Minister’s response boiled down to a narrow technical definition of ‘active farmer’ and a hope that the issue resolves itself. That is not good enough. These are real families who rely on those payments to survive and to continue farming.
“This is about the future of hill farming and rural communities in places like the Knockmealdowns. Once this way of life is lost, it cannot simply be restored.
“The Minister must now intervene. He must ensure that no farmer loses their payments because of documentation issues arising from an ongoing dispute, and he must engage to support a fair and sustainable outcome for those farming these lands,” Deputy McGuinness concluded.
A spokesperson for Lismore Estate provided the following statement: “A rent review was conducted in 2023 which informed the proposed rents for tenants of the Knockmealdown Mountains on the Lismore Estate, up to and including 2029”.
“This proposal was endorsed by an independent agricultural consultant, and we are working with tenants on its gradual phased implementation,” the spokesperson for Lismore Estate added.