These are photos of Prince William at Hugh Grosvenor’s wedding back in June. Remember, William attended the wedding solo – the Princess of Wales did not attend and neither did Prince George. Huevo was photographed with his good friend William van Cutsem after the wedding as Hugh and his bride departed the cathedral. Prince William and Harry grew up with the van Cutsem clan, and William van Cutsem lives about 20 miles away from Anmer Hall in Norfolk. Meaning, van Cutsem is likely part of the whole Turnip Toff crew. Well, funny story. You know how Huevo made a point of removing Camilla’s sister from the Duchy of Cornwall payroll? Well, Huevo has now added van Cutsem to the payroll.
Prince William may have thrown the Queen’s sister Annabel Elliot off the Duchy of Cornwall payroll – but for his pal, it’s a different story. William has made his most loyal friend and closest confidant William van Cutsem an adviser for the Duchy Estate. Van Cutsem, 45, known as ‘VC’ to friends, is Prince George’s godfather.
Many say he is like a brother to William, 42, so he is a natural choice to help to run the Duchy of Cornwall as an ‘adviser to the council’. William inherited maintainance of the 130,000-acre Duchy estate from his father Charles after the Coronation in September 2022. He made £23 million from it last year. The amount of tax he will pay has not been revealed.
Van Cutsem is well qualified for his role – as a chartered surveyor, he specialises in logistics, renew-able businesses and building storage facilities across Britain. In the Duchy’s annual report van Cutsem is said to have a ‘keen interest in regenerative farming practices within the family’s home and farming businesses’.
The two Williams have country homes 20 miles apart in Norfolk. They were pictured together in June as Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, married Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral.
Van Cutsem’s appointment was revealed in the Duchy of Cornwall’s annual report, where it was also disclosed that Camilla’s sister Annabel would no longer be employed by the Duchy of Cornwall, after two decades of service.
Nepotism for me and not for thee. One nepo-hire gone and another brought into the fold. Much like Annabel Elliot’s “work” with the Duchy, this one can be explained as “well, at least the person is nominally qualified for whatever position.” Annabel is legitimately an interior designer. William van Cutsem is legitimately involved with chartered surveying and real estate. But yeah, these are nepotism-hires. And where one nepo-hire is uncovered, I assume five more are being hidden. How long before we hear that Carole Middleton is on the Duchy payroll as “events coordinator.” How long before James Middleton is confirmed as the Duchy’s dog-biscuit-maker?
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
-
- The Wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke Of Westminster and Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Chester, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: Cover Images
-
- The Wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke Of Westminster and Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Chester, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: Cover Images
-
- The Prince of Wales (centre) leaves Chester Cathedral after the wedding of Olivia Henson and Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster Featuring: William Prince of Wales Where: Chester, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince of Wales (centre left) leaves Chester Cathedral after the wedding of Olivia Henson and Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster Featuring: William Prince of Wales Where: Chester, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince of Wales (centre left) leaves Chester Cathedral after the wedding of Olivia Henson and Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster Featuring: William Prince of Wales Where: Chester, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince of Wales (centre left) leaves Chester Cathedral after the wedding of Olivia Henson and Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster Featuring: William Prince of Wales Where: Chester, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke Of Westminster and Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Chester, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: Cover Images
-
- The Wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke Of Westminster and Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Chester, United Kingdom When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: Cover Images
Making sure he stays his friend and his friend alone. No being Harry’s friend. Hope it backfires on him!
I think that may have been part of the point. Now he’s got a “longtime friend of both brothers” on staff to provide background quotes to the rota. It’s also publicly taking William’s side.
The other part is that Prince William never finished his bespoke course on how to run the estate, so he’s probably overwhelmed now that it’s all on him. William VC is the youngest of 4 but he’s 2 years older than PW. I wonder if he got his own training on managing and preserving a large estate. It’d be sensible to give the spares the same training and preparation as the heir, just in case.
He must be somewhat competent to be a chartered surveyor. It requires a degree and a national exam. I wonder if he isn’t “adult supervision” brought in for PW. It’s been long enough since he inherited the duchy that mismanagement or absenteeism might be starting to show. VC is close enough that his advice may be tolerable, unlike anyone hired by Charles.
You know, KC has a lot more estates now that he’s king than he did as PoW. He essentially took Annabel Elliot with him )and the question is if she even wanted to stay and work with Huevo). This nepo hire landed on her feet.
And VC is probably linking Huevo into his network. So, yes, he’s a nepo hire, but given that VC has more power in society than W and more money and a real job, it’s giving “useful network.”
This is what I thought, it wasn’t that PW got rid of horsey’s Sister it’s that horsey tomorrow k her to the Duchy of Lancaster.
Took her to*
Peggy just wanted someone he could stand next to and not be the frumpy looking one..
Ha ha so true!!!!!!! Quite an accomplishment!!!!!!!!
WvC is a chartered surveyor, but I am sure the Duchy already has people for that on their payroll, or know where to hire someone who’s not only qualified but experienced on an hourly or project-based rate. I highly doubt they need a surveyor 24/7.
What I don’t get though: why would they need a logistics/storage expert, other than for collecting those shopping bags full of cash and finding a place to hide them, similar to Scrooge McDuck’s money vault.
Charles did a lot of work on regenerative farming when the duchy was in his hands. I think it is a good thing William seems to be continuing that. I’m not sure “advisor to the council” is a full time job, it sounds more like he is a board member.
Like a brother to him… hmm I wonder if that talk about Harry and Nacho … never mind. I’m more curious to know if ‘VC’ is the recent “palace source” ie was friends of both Wales bros but is now loyal to William. It’s nice PW found a “legit” way to pay him now.
Yeah, now I’m wondering if VC is William’s friend who talks to the daily beast all the time😂
William will only put his ‘friends’ into those roles – Kitty isn’t going to have any sort of say in how the Duchy is run even thou am sure Ma and Pa would love to get their fingers in that pie.
Now if the nepo hires for Kitty included making Ma and Pippa ‘Ladies’ in waiting then yeah, if the divorce is really off then I can totally see those 2 conning their way into that role – we’re already seeing the roll out of that where Ma goes to Ascot in Kitty’s place and Pippa is her plus 1 for the tennis.
I can’t fault this. If I were Charles or William, I’d want someone on the inside I could trust (I’m assuming Camilla’s sister and this fellow are trustworthy) and if I were William, I’d probably want Camilla’s sister gone and one of my longtime bff in. ESPECIALLY if he was a logistics and storage expert. Lots of both there I’m sure. And that place is a goldmine. Even if you had to make up a job to have someone you really trust in there, it would make sense. Their real job is to keep an eye on things. That’s worth a lot. Especially if you can afford it.
Lots of interior work there too tough, so if I were him, I’d work on finding an ace replacement. Interiors aren’t just about decoration. It’s about design. And design affects function, maintenance, and marketability. And the interior designers also interact with just about everyone. (Plumbers electricians architects engineers development construction property maintenance etc.) So again, a good person to have in a position to keep an eye on things if you want them too.
Well, this is better than him setting up his other “brother,” Mike Tinsdale, as an advisor.
Nothing surprising.
I love the yellow dress.
This seems pretty par for the course for rich people, right? Giving their friends roles like “advisor” or whatever in their companies etc.
How is he making 23 mil off this estate? Is he like a massive landlord?
Yes, like half of Cornwall. Feudalism is going strong in the UK
So since I love looking up family trees and what not. We all know the van Custem family and how they are close they are to the royals. However there is another connection I just now noticed.
Hugh van Cutsem, who was a close friends of Charles and the father of the boys, has a brother named Geoffrey. Geoffrey was married to a woman named Sally McCorquodale, Sally has a brother whose name is Neil McCorquodale and who is Neil married to??? Lady Sarah Spencer, the elder sister of Diana.
So the van Cutsem brothers are first cousins of the children of Neil McCorquodale and Lady Sarah Spencer and those kids are obviously the first cousins of William and Harry. So Lady Sarah is both the aunt of William and Harry and the van Cutsem boys.
Babybella, that is amazing. We know they keep a tight inbred circle but those are some heavily overlapping branches on the old family tree.
Thanks for connecting the dots!
Love that the Daily Fail refers to the coronation in September 2022, as if Charles ripped the crown off Queen Elizabeth’s coffin and plopped it on his head right away.