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The Duchy of Cornwall is one of the two Royal duchies in the United Kingdom (the other being the Duchy of Lancaster). It is an estate held in trust to provide income for the reigning monarch's eldest surviving son (as long as that son is also the Heir Apparent), in his capacity as Duke of Cornwall. The current Duke of Cornwall is The Prince of Wales.
Despite its name, it is effectively a property company (though it pays no corporation tax), and has holdings throughout the country, with possessions totalling 571 km². Nearly half of the holdings are in Devon, with other large holdings in Cornwall, Herefordshire, and Somerset.
For Cornish regionalists and nationalists, the Duchy has quite a different signification. Cornwall itself, in this framework, is described as a Duchy (as opposed to an ordinary county), and the Duchy estates are distinguished from the Duchy itself. The Duke of Cornwall may even be described as Cornwall's head of state. For example, the Duke traditionally had a ceremonial role in summoning the Cornish Stannary Parliaments. It should be noticed, however, that the administrative machinery of Cornwall almost invariably refers to itself as a county (including, for example, Cornwall County Council itself) in the English language.
The Duchy was established in 1337 by Edward III of England for his son, Edward, Prince of Wales.
Both the Duchy of Cornwall and its counterpart, the Duchy of Lancashire, have special statutory rights not available to other estates held by peers: for example, the rules on Bona Vacantia operate in favour of the holder of the Duchy (as opposed to the Crown generally), and there are separate Attorneys General for the estates. Generally, though, the exemptions all tend to follow the same line: any rights pertaining to the Crown generally in most areas of the country instead pertain to the Duke of the Duchy.
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