The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-05-12
BY Ia MAnau1sE DE FoNrENoy.

BY Ia NIARaTIsE DE FOSTENOY.
TT HRoUGH King Georges accession
Prince Edward. who will be
sixteen in June, and who is
known in his family circle by the nick
II he wished In spite of being a mere
boy. take his seat in the House of
Lords. since by statute the Dukes of
Cornwall. no matter how tender their
years, are always of age. a Duke of
Cornwall Is subject to no minority. in
respect either of political and civil
rights, or in regard to the revenues
and possessions of his dukedom. and.
owing to this, when the late King was
a mere infant. special act of Parlia-
Incnt had to be passed by both houses
of the national Legislature to enable
his mother, Queen Victoria to admin
,hc attained manhood. AT the time at
tention was drawn to the fact that.
though an infant. he possessed the
unique privilege of voting in the House
of Lords. despite his being then still
in long clothes.
To be a Duke of Cornwall one must
be a son of the sovereign. as we'll as
heir apparent. If the latter is not a
grandson, he cannot be invested by
the crown with the dukedom Of Corn
wall, while mere heirs presumptive,
such as brothers. nephews. etc, are
similarly Darrell, ana III SuCil eNeill
tile revenues of the duchy are turned
over to the sovereign.
The dukedom of Cornwall comes to
Prince Edward as a right, by virtue Of
the king. The title of Prince of Wales
will come to him later. as an act of
grace on the part of his father The
monarch is under no obligation to be-
upon upon his his hrst-born. Edward VII, for
instance. did not confer the title of
Prince of Wales upon his son until the
latter had completed his tour OF the
that is to say, considerably more
than year after the demise OF Queen
Victoria.
The dignity of Prince of Wales car
ries with it no revenues nor even pre-
negatives, and its holder sits in the
House Of Lords. and is enabled to take
part in it's deliberations, not as Prince
of Wales. but as Duke of Cornwall.
agx to 81 the pr regular Of aes as
borne BY the British heir apparent, is
older than that Of the Duke Of Corn
wall. Edward ]. was the first King OF
England to create his eldest son prin g,
ing the Welsh chieftatns to English
domination, after the death Of Llswel-
lyn. the last native ruler or Wales
ward III. that the latter raised the
earldom Of Cornwall into lukedom.
and bestowed it upon his son, Edward
the Black Prince, with the provision
that 1t should always be held by the
heir apparent who was the son or tne
sovereign. Prior to Edward III; the
earldom of Cornwall was deemed too
powerful and too rich to be trusted to
the possession OF any but men closely
akin to the relgning house. William
the Conoueror bestowed it upon his
half brother, Robert of Mortain. Or
other earls related to the sovereign,
the most Important were we're ,.n Rienar %
ISinp ar the Romans and his son Ed
The new Duke OF CORVALLIS prop.
erty is not, as in olden times, restricted
moro or less to the county OF Corn
wall. In fact, the estates winch ne
now owns in the county 40 ! no az easenu
whereas. as Duke OF Cornwall, he owns
over 10000 acres in Devonshire, many
thousand acres more In the neighbour
ing county of Somerset, and a large
amount of real estate In London Thus
the greater part of what was once
known as the Lambeth Marsh, and
don priow known as Remington, be-
longs to the duchy of Cornwall. It Is
from this London property that the
new duke will derive the major por-
ton of his revenues. The land is let
out on ninety-nine-year leases, ana
Cornwall for the time being, no matter
how much lie may he the ground land
lord and draw money from the ground
rents has absolutely no control over
the buildings, as long as the terms OF
the lease nre not broken. II is OWING
10 this that the new heir apparent
finds himself In possession OF some OF
a {cer II.