In the United Kingdom, when a person dies without a will or no next of kin, their assets are claimed by the Treasury.
Contributed to the common good.
However, certain areas of the UK – Cornwall and Lancaster – are technically “duchies,” which means that after someone dies with no will and no heir, instead of going to the common good, their assets go to a family of wealthy landlords called “The Windsors.”
The Duchy of Lancaster belongs to King Charles III.
The Duchy of Cornwall is overseen by Prince William, who is also the Duke of Cornwall.
These are people whose status was conferred upon them through no effort of their own. Families with a certain degree of previous inbreeding had sex, and as a result, they possess the power to claim dead people’s money and land.
Thus far, they’ve collected as much as £1.2 million from estates that lack wills.
It’s all very strange. It’s hard to fathom how these genetically based systems of stupidity and unearned privilege still exist in the modern world.
But the part that I really don’t understand is the complete lack of shame that these so-called nobles possess. It’s embarrassing enough to claim status and title through genetic lineage, but then to use that status to take money from deceased citizens as if it were the Middle Ages strikes me as pathetic and absent any sense of decency.
Does inbreeding somehow eliminate the ability to feel embarrassed or ashamed? Does generational wealth somehow innoculate a person from the need for self-respect?
I’m going to write them a letter asking as much.
