2026

LONDON (AP) — Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall plans to sell about 20% of its 1 billion pound ($1.3 billion) property portfolio over the next decade to consolidate its holdings and finance plans to build thousands of homes, expand renewable energy production and pursue wildlife restoration projects.

Will Bax, the chief executive of the duchy, or domain, revealed the plans in an interview with the Times of London that the newspaper published on Monday. They are in line with the duchy’s strategy of consolidating its far-flung holdings and investing the proceeds in environmental and social projects, which was announced in its most recent annual report.

William has decided that the duchy “shouldn’t just exist to own land,” Bax told the Times. “It should first and foremost exist to have a positive impact on the world.”

The initiative comes as Britain’s royal family in general and the Duchy of Cornwall specifically are under pressure to be more transparent about their finances and to show that the monarchy provides value for money for taxpayers.

The duchy, created in the 14th century to provide an income for the Prince of Wales, owns 52,173 hectares (131,393 acres) of land in 19 counties across England.

The duchy now plans to focus on five “heartlands” in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Dartmoor and the Bath area, all in southwestern England, as well as the Kennington area of London, Bax said.

Land sales will help the duchy invest about 500 million pounds in housing, renewable energy and environmental projects, he said.

The duchy’s profits support the public and private life of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children. It reported a profit of 22.9 million pounds in the financial year ending March 31, 2025.

While the current Prince of Wales is entitled to the duchy’s operating profits, he cannot sell its property to benefit himself. The duchy’s activities are overseen by a board of directors that is charged with protecting the assets for future generations. Large property transactions must be approved by the government to ensure the long-term value of the assets.

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Belarus said Monday it launched joint drills with Russia to practice the use of nuclear weapons that Moscow has deployed on the territory of its neighbor and ally.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Russia to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons to his country. In December, Russia also announced that its latest intermediate range nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system entered service in Belarus, which borders Ukraine and NATO members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that the drills will involve missile units and warplanes.

“During the exercise, in cooperation with the Russian side, it is planned to practice the delivery of nuclear weapons and preparations for their use,” the ministry said in a statement. It said the drills will focus on training forces to move covertly across large distances.

It said the maneuvers had been planned in advance and weren’t aimed against any third countries.

Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades. His government has been repeatedly sanctioned by the West for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In 2024, the Kremlin released a revised nuclear doctrine that placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow will retain control of its nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus, but would allow its ally to select the targets in case of conflict.

Russia has used a conventionally armed version of the Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree — to strike facilities in Ukraine on two occasions — in November 2024 and then again in January.

Putin has claimed that Oreshnik’s multiple warheads plunge at speeds of up to Mach 10 and can’t be intercepted, and that several such missiles used in a conventional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack.

Intermediate-range missiles can fly between 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Such weapons were banned under a Soviet-era treaty that Washington and Moscow abandoned in 2019.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya criticized the drills, saying that the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons has “turned Belarus into a target.”

“Lukashenko has turned Belarus into a platform for Russian threats, but Belarusians don’t need these weapons,” Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press. “Only a free Belarus will become a source of security, not nuclear blackmail, in Europe.”

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