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Its worse than just the swans - the monarch owns almost all the land in the UK too. The legal concept of "Allodial title" [1] means that, even if you own the fr

Its worse than just the swans - the monarch owns almost all the land in the UK too. The legal concept of "Allodial title" [1] means that, even if you own the freehold of some land, it's actually a freehold in the estate of the crown [2] - and the monarch is actually the ultimate owner. The exceptions to this are a few areas of Scotland. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allodial_title https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allodial_title [2] from memory - the actual phrase might be slightly different

dijit 4y ago
Thats a misrepresentation. The titles are held in the monarchs name, so if the monarch should fall then the title becomes null and void. Basically in law: the crown is Britain, and the deed given is stated “so long as Britain shall exist”.
- quickthrower2 4y ago
  Being out that cryptography xkcd but instead of crypto have complex ownership laws and instead of $5 wrench have an army.
bb123 4y ago
You’re phrasing this like it actually has some bearing on how land is owned in the U.K. This is just a quirk of tradition - for all intents and purposes the freeholder is the ultimate owner of the land.
revertmean 4y ago
Actually, this doesn't apply to the whole of Scotland since "The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000", and it doesn't apply to NI either. The crown ownership only applies to England & Wales.
- andyjohnson0 4y ago
  Thanks. I didn't know that.
timeon 4y ago
It makes sense since K in UK is for kingdom.
Turing_Machine 4y ago
If I remember right, the current Princes of Liechtenstein basically bought the current country under a similar concept. The original Liechtenstein was a castle in Austria. The family shopped around for some land that was held directly from the Holy Roman Emperor, rather than through some intermediate feudal lord, and bought it. That gave them statehood within the Holy Roman Empire, and raised the head of the house to the status of Prince. They didn't even visit the current Liechtenstein for many years -- it was basically a flag of convenience.
KineticLensman 4y ago
The Crown Estate is one of the largest landowners in Britain, with peers including the Church and the Ministry of Defence, but does not own the majority of the UK. Curiously, a lot of the coastal seabed in UK territorial waters is part of the Crown Estate, which has thus profited massively from offshore wind farms. The Crown 'owns' the Crown estate as a corporation sole [0], a legal entity occupied by a single person, the Monarch. When the Queen died, the Crown persisted as a legal entity but the Monarch changed. King Charles owns several properties that are not part of the Crown estate, e.g. Balmoral and Sandringham. These were purchased by members of the Royal family from other members of the aristocracy in the 19th Century. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation_sole#The_Crown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation_sole#The_Crown

dijit 4y ago

Thats a misrepresentation. The titles are held in the monarchs name, so if the monarch should fall then the title becomes null and void. Basically in law: the crown is Britain, and the deed given is stated “so long as Britain shall exist”.

quickthrower2 4y ago
Being out that cryptography xkcd but instead of crypto have complex ownership laws and instead of $5 wrench have an army.

bb123 4y ago

You’re phrasing this like it actually has some bearing on how land is owned in the U.K. This is just a quirk of tradition - for all intents and purposes the freeholder is the ultimate owner of the land.

revertmean 4y ago

Actually, this doesn't apply to the whole of Scotland since "The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000", and it doesn't apply to NI either. The crown ownership only applies to England & Wales.

andyjohnson0 4y ago
Thanks. I didn't know that.

timeon 4y ago

It makes sense since K in UK is for kingdom.

Turing_Machine 4y ago

If I remember right, the current Princes of Liechtenstein basically bought the current country under a similar concept. The original Liechtenstein was a castle in Austria. The family shopped around for some land that was held directly from the Holy Roman Emperor, rather than through some intermediate feudal lord, and bought it. That gave them statehood within the Holy Roman Empire, and raised the head of the house to the status of Prince. They didn't even visit the current Liechtenstein for many years -- it was basically a flag of convenience.

KineticLensman 4y ago

The Crown Estate is one of the largest landowners in Britain, with peers including the Church and the Ministry of Defence, but does not own the majority of the UK. Curiously, a lot of the coastal seabed in UK territorial waters is part of the Crown Estate, which has thus profited massively from offshore wind farms. The Crown 'owns' the Crown estate as a corporation sole [0], a legal entity occupied by a single person, the Monarch. When the Queen died, the Crown persisted as a legal entity but the Monarch changed. King Charles owns several properties that are not part of the Crown estate, e.g. Balmoral and Sandringham. These were purchased by members of the Royal family from other members of the aristocracy in the 19th Century. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation_sole#The_Crown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation_sole#The_Crown