by Devon Balwit
 |
| King Charles III built his own empire long before he inherited his mother’s. Charles, who formally acceded to the British throne on Saturday, spent half a century turning his royal estate into a billion-dollar portfolio and one of the most lucrative moneymakers in the royal family business. —The New York Times, September 13, 2022 |
Your average Brit pays to inherit. Not he.
King Charles gets his tax free,
the pelf of the Commonwealth studiously invested.
You’d think working folk would grow disgusted
at the granting of titles to Saudis for cash, the off-
shore holdings, the real-estate profits,
that they’d line up with fists raised rather than phones.
Why should HRH earn 28 million
last year alone when inflation’s at 10%?
Are we really so suckered by pageantry?
Imagine the Crown Estate and the Duchy of Cornwall
liquidated, the money put towards ending global
warming. Now that would be a worthy legacy—
one to send cheering crowds into the streets.
Devon Balwit walks in all weather. Her most recent collections are Rubbing Shoulders with the Greats [Seven Kitchens Press 2020] and Dog-Walking in the Shadow of Pyongyang [Nixes Mate Books, 2021].
