Prince William Opens a New Restaurant in Cornwall: How It Connects to Lucrative Duchy

The Nursery is a part of the Duchy of Cornwall, the private estate established by King Edward III in 1337 to provide income for the heir to the throne

Prince William kicked off the work week with a road trip!

On Monday afternoon, the Prince of Wales traveled to Cornwall to visit the Duchy of Cornwall’s Nursery near Lostwithiel, about a four-hour drive from his home in Windsor. Prince William made the trip to open The Orangery, a new restaurant built as part of a nine-month extension plan to increase sustainable visitor spaces at the Nursery.

William, 41, first took a tour of the Nursery’s new central atrium, connecting with Nursery staff and Duchy of Cornwall employees who brought the project to life. The Duchy of Cornwall Nursery was originally a slate quarry and got its start as a gardening center by producing forest trees in the 1960s. The hub took its plant sales public in 1974 and has grown to become one of the largest nurseries in southwest England. The Nursery is committed to sustainable practices — aligning with Prince William and King Charles’ shared passion for environmental conservation.

Prince William moved to the Glasshouse, an original element of the Nursery and home to a diverse range of plants for sale, and checked out the Bumblebee Garden. The Nursery has planted a range of flowers to benefit the declining bumblebee population in partnership with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a pitch would surely interest Kate Middleton. The Princess of Wales, 41, showed off her home beekeeping skills in a photo released by her office in honor of World Bee Day in May!

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Last but not least, the Prince of Wales officially opened The Orangery.

And in a touch to Prince William's Earthshot Prize project, award winner Notpla is providing some of its seaweed-based packaging to the Nursery’s restaurant.

The restaurant overlooks Restormel Castle and serves seasonal cuisine inspired by local farms and the Cornish coastline, with herbs from the Nursery’s Kitchen Garden.

The Nursery is a part of the Duchy of Cornwall, the private estate established by King Edward III in 1337 to provide an income for the heir to the throne. It has continued ever since, and William inherited the duchy and its Duke of Cornwall title following the death of Queen Elizabeth and the accession of his father King Charles, the former Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, in September 2022. William shadowed Charles in recent years to learn more about what running the Duchy of Cornwall  — comprised of 130,000 acres across 23 counties of England and Wales — would entail.

The vast estate of farmland, property and commercial businesses is worth around $1.3 billion. Last year, it provided Charles with an income of around $25 million.

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In October, a royal source told PEOPLE William was totally dedicated to his new role.

"He is going to very much take an active role in it. He is fully immersing himself in it," they explained.

The prince paid a solo visit to Cornwall in November and returned with Princess Kate in February. Bringing a fresh perspective to the position, Prince William recently alluded that he was exploring ways to create social housing on the vast Duchy of Cornwall estate as part of his ongoing mission to end homelessness in conversation with The Times.

“You’ll see that when it’s ready. I’m no policy expert, but I push it where I can,” William said of duchy plans for affordable housing in a piece published June 17, just before he rolled out his new Homewards initiative.

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The new campaign will provide $3.8 million to six different locations across the U.K. as seed money for an ambitious plan to make homelessness "rare, brief and unrepeated” through the next five years.

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