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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 kmē. 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 significance. Cornwall itself is described as a Duchy (as opposed to an ordinary county), and the trust properties belonging to the ducal crown are not 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 in Lancashire have special statutory rights not available to other estates held by peers: for example, the rules on Bona VacantiaBona Vacantia (latin, meaning vacant goods is a division of the Treasury Solicitor's Department of the UK Government. It is responsible for disposing of Bona Vacantia assets, which are chiefly: Treasure Trove Assets of companies for which ownership cannot operate in favour of the holder of the Duchy (as opposed to the CrownThe Crown is a term which is used to separate the government authority and property of the state in a kingdom, as opposed to any personal influence and private assets held by the current Monarch. In the United Kingdom (and by extension, most of the nation generally), and there are separate Attorneys GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the Attorney General is the main legal adviser to the government, and in some jurisdictions may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions. Australia In Austral 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 DukeThe Dukedom of Cornwall was the first dukedom created in the peerage of England. The dukedom remains one of the last in the United Kingdom still associated with an actual duchy (the other is the Duchy of Lancaster). Its income goes to the Duke (or to the of the Duchy.