The campaign group Republic will be hosting a meeting in Truro on September 29 to launch a campaign for the abolition of the Duchy of Cornwall. The campaign is one of three projects aimed at curtailing Prince Charles's influence and political meddling. Other campaigns to include the royals in Freedom of Information laws and to abolish the royal veto over legislation are set to be launched later in the year. The Duchy of Cornwall gives millions of pounds to Charles every year yet it isn't his private property. The prince uses the organisation as a power base from which to interfere in politics and lobby on a range of pet issues. One of the issues the launch meeting will discuss is what to do with the Duchy's wealth, which rightly belongs to the nation. Ideas range from gifting the whole Duchy to the people of Cornwall, paying its profits to the Treasury or selling it off and allowing Duchy tenants the right to buy. Republic's chief executive Graham Smith said today: "The Duchy does not belong to the royal family, there is no justification for millions of pounds of public revenue being handed to Charles every year." "Everyone knows Charles interferes in politics and he uses the Duchy as a power base for that meddling. The monarchy needs to be held to account, open to scrutiny and exposed for its meddling - abolition of the Duchy will be a step in that direction." "We will be launching the campaign in Cornwall, we want to hear what Cornish people have to say about the future of the Duchy. But this is a national issue and we'll be campaigning on it up and down the country."

NOTES

The Duchy campaign meeting will be on Saturday, September 29 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm Truro Community Library Union Place Truro TR1 1EP

For full details visit www.republic.org.uk/events