Prince William becomes the new owner of a notorious British prison

Prince William is the new owner of a notorious British prison after inheriting his father’s diverse £1 billion ($1.7 billion) property portfolio.

The spread of addresses includes castles, farms, cottages, holidays rentals, commercial ventures, manors (the best known is Highgrove, where King Charles would retreat to from London during his marriage to Diana), coastlines, forests…and the historic Dartmoor jail.

The new Prince of Wales – who was bestowed the title after Charles became king last month, following the death of Queen Elizabeth – was gifted the portfolio known as the Duchy of Cornwall.

It compromises 53,000 hectares of land in 23 counties, mostly in the south east of England.

The Dartmoor region, where the jail is located, has been part of the duchy since 1337 and is the largest land holding in the Prince’s purse, covering more than 27,000 hectares.

HMP Dartmoor, in Princetown, Devon, is a category C men’s prison with six cell wings, the New York Post reported, where inmates convicted of non-violent crimes can retrain or acquire new skills to serve them in their life upon release.

The prison, established in 1809 to house French prisoners from the early years of the Napoleonic War, has been functioning through the threat of closure.

Dartmoor is heritage listed and three years ago, it was to shut its doors.

But negotiations with the Prince of Wales’ estate – back when the title belonged to Charles – reached an arrangement and in 2021, it was announced Dartmoor would continue to operate.