Prince William faces a backlash in Britain over his plans to shake-up the centuries-old institution that provides his annual eight-figure income.

The $2.3 billion Duchy of Cornwall is an extensive property and land portfolio traditionally held by the heir to the British throne.

Valued at more than £1.2 billion ($A2.3 billion), the estate is traditionally used to pay the bills for the Prince of Wales and his family. In the 2024-25 year, it made a profit of £22.9 million.

The duchy was run by the King while he was Prince of Wales. It went to William when he was given the title after the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II – and will go to William’s oldest son George when William takes the throne.

It is one of the biggest private land-holdings in Britain with properties in 23 counties in England and Wales. They include London’s Oval Cricket Ground and more than 27,000 hectares in Dartmoor.

But the prince’s plans to make big changes to the 700-year-old duchy are causing controversy. In May, he announced a plan to sell about 20 per cent of the estate to fund ambitious housing, nature recovery and renewable energy projects.

“If we don’t see an opportunity for positive impact, then perhaps we don’t need to be a part of that place,” duchy chief executive Will Bax told Britain’s Times newspaper.

“But where there is social need and where there is environmental challenge and where there is an opportunity to enable change, then we’ll be a great partner in working with people to achieve that.”

The Times reported that the future king would raise an estimated £500 million through the sales, with the duchy refocusing around five key “heartlands” – Cornwall, Dartmoor, the Isles of Scilly, Bath and parts of London.

On the chopping block is Bradninch, a 1200-hectare estate in Devon. Last month, nine tenant farmers were given just six months to decide if they would buy their properties or move out for good.

None would speak on the record, but one told The Observer anonymously that they “thought this was something that could never happen”.

“When you came into the duchy, you were part of a larger family. It was like somebody had their arms around you and you were going to be OK,” they said.

“There was always an understanding that we had a home for the rest of our lives. The duchy has become more commercial. Ruthless is the word I would use.”

Another Bradninch tenant described hearing about the sale of their home on the local news.

“We were absolutely on the floor. It came completely out of the blue,” they said.

“We’d made all our financial plans and then all of a sudden the rug was pulled from under our feet, literally overnight … They talk about how this is an opportunity to buy your farm. Well, actually it’s the opportunity to go into generational debt. You wake up every morning with a sense of doom.”

The Observer reports that many locals are “staunch royalists” but the sale is challenging their stance.

Locals reportedly even have to buy community assets such as the football pitch and wetlands from the duchy.

“Everyone is in shock,” Mary Ryan, a former GP and palliative care consultant who has lived in Bradninch for 36 years, said.

“It’s pitting neighbour against neighbour and dividing the community. People are grief-stricken and frightened.”

The Prince of Wales wants to redirect money from the sale to other projects. Key among them is an idea inspired by his broad Homewards project, which focuses on finding innovative, locally-based answers to tackle homelessness.

“As one of his key priorities for the Duchy of Cornwall, Prince William asked us to address the homelessness challenge within Cornwall and other areas where the estate resides,” duchy estate director Ben Murphy said in 2024.

Prince William and wife Kate on a 2024 visit to the Isles of Scilly, part of the Duchy of Cornwall estate. Photo: AAP

The duchy is building social housing in Nansledan, Newquay, in Cornwall.

There are also plans for a Market Street development in Newquay. It would be one of the first newly built high streets of its kind in more than a century in Britain and would provide commercial space for local artisans, independent businesses and community enterprises.

Elsewhere, Prince William has directed that the $2 million a year he used to receive in rent from a prison in Dartmoor, which has been empty since July 2024, be returned to the community through the local Princetown Community Fund.

That fund will support “projects delivering lasting social, economic and environmental benefits for local people across Princetown and the surrounding Dartmoor area”, according to a press release in September.