YouGov may rank Prince William among Britain’s most popular royals, but those popularity ratings look hollow when tenants on his Duchy of Cornwall estate in Devon face losing their homes under his watch.

The Prince of Wales, who has made ending homelessness one of his defining charitable causes, now faces an embarrassing backlash after The Observer exposed how his Duchy was treating longtime tenants. His representatives have since apologised and agreed to review property valuations, although the estate sale remains on the table.

The irony is almost too good to be true. The man campaigning to end homelessness has been overseeing an estate sale that could leave some of his own tenants homeless.

Prince William’s Duchy Apologises After Public Backlash

According to The Observer’s political editor Rachel Sylvester, the Duchy of Cornwall has apologised to tenants affected by the proposed sale of the 3,000-acre Bradninch estate in Devon.

The controversy erupted after the newspaper revealed that farmers and residents had received possession notices giving them six months to purchase their properties or leave.

Some families have lived on the estate for generations. Others invested substantial amounts of money improving properties they believed would remain their homes.

Tenants accused the Duchy of demanding inflated prices, with some claiming its valuations exceeded market rates by approximately 30%. They also complained that the estate failed to properly account for the money they had invested in their properties. One warned that buying their home could leave their family burdened with generations of debt.

Another lifelong royalist was far less diplomatic, telling The Observer: “I’ve been a royalist all my life and I think Charles was fantastic. William can go to hell.”

Following The Observer’s investigation and the resulting backlash, William reportedly discussed the situation with Matthew Morris, the Duchy’s rural director.

Morris subsequently visited the tenants, apologised for the handling of the sale and agreed to arrange fresh independent valuations jointly commissioned by the Duchy and residents. He also promised to reconsider how the Duchy accounts for money tenants spent improving their properties. One tenant welcomed the more conciliatory approach but warned that “talk is cheap” and the “proof will be in the pudding.”

The Observer’s original investigation also reported that William had never visited Bradninch to meet the tenants, despite inheriting the Duchy of Cornwall in 2022.

William receives approximately £23 million annually from the Duchy, yet tenants facing the loss of their homes had to turn to a national newspaper to get their concerns heard.

How reassuring. The prince who campaigns to end homelessness apparently needed a public backlash before his estate reconsidered how it was treating families facing the loss of their homes.

Is Prince William Sorry About the Tenants or the Bad Publicity?

The Observer reports that William was unhappy about the situation following its investigation. But what exactly prompted that unhappiness? Was it the distress experienced by families facing the loss of their homes, or the damage to his carefully cultivated public image?

We cannot know his private motivations. However, the timing of the apology makes public scrutiny impossible to ignore. The tenants had already spent weeks facing uncertainty before the newspaper brought their experiences to national attention.

And while the Duchy now promises fresh valuations and a better process, those promises do not automatically guarantee that residents can afford to remain.

As one tenant observed, the real test will be what happens next. An apology might repair a headline. It does not necessarily save someone’s home.

YouGov’s October 2026 poll placed William and Kate among Britain’s most popular royals, with approximately 72–74% of Britons expressing favourable opinions.

Wonderful news for Kensington Palace. But popularity polls do not pay mortgages, and favourable ratings will not save a tenant’s home.

William has the luxury of extraordinary housing security. His family secured the eight-bedroom Forest Lodge in Windsor in 2025 while retaining Anmer Hall in Norfolk and Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace.

Meanwhile, families renting from his Duchy face the prospect of leaving properties they have occupied for decades. The contrast is difficult to ignore: a prince with access to multiple royal residences is overseeing an estate sale that threatens the housing security of people who have far fewer options.

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