King Charles has demonstrated that he is fully back in charge after his cancer treatment by taking the reins of a business which controls his Balmoral estate.
The monarch has been named as the person running the royal retreat in the Highlands as well as plush flats in Edinburgh — the first time a member of the Royal Family has formally taken this role.
The new position at a company was decided just as he began his return to public life carrying out engagements following treatment.
In an unusual move, the King has been named as a person of significant control of Canup Ltd in documents filed at Companies House. A PSC01 form shows ‘His Gracious Majesty King Charles III’ was notified as a ‘person of significant control’.
The paperwork says the position had become ‘registrable’ on March 31 last year, but was not made public until now.
Canup Ltd owns the King’s lands at Balmoral and Delnadamph in the Scottish Highlands, but also owns two Edinburgh flats said to be worth a combined total of up to £1.8million.
Although it is known the company manages the royal properties, no royal has previously been publicly linked with it. The paperwork previously stated: ‘The company knows or has reasonable cause to believe that there is no registrable person or registrable relevant legal entity in relation to the company.’
The three directors are Sir Michael Steven, Keeper of the Privy Purse — effectively the royals’ chief financial officer — the Duke of Buccleuch, and Scots businessman Sir Brian Ivory.
This week, the King has been in Edinburgh, where Queen Camilla and the Duke of Edinburgh became members of the Order of the Thistle during a service celebrating Scotland’s greatest order of chivalry.
The Queen and Prince Edward were appointed Royal Knights of the Order by the King and in a private ceremony, also attended by fellow member Prince William, were formally installed during the service at St Giles’ Cathedral.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has a confession: he didn’t take advantage of the Swinging Sixties.
‘I was a rather strait-laced teenager,’ says Williams, 74.
‘I wasn’t in any hurry to have a love life. I’d probably have a word to say to my younger self about that — not ‘play the field’, but relax a bit and be grateful for the friendships offered.’
At 82, Michael of Kent is still a party Prince…
Prince Michael of Kent, who celebrated his 82nd birthday yesterday, is determined to keep partying.
The beloved first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth was spotted being given a helping hand by a doorman as he left Oswald’s, Robin Birley’s private members’ club in Mayfair.
Like his wife, Marie-Christine, 79, Prince Michael uses a walking stick these days, but that has not deterred him from maintaining a lively social life.
