The Prince of Wales likes to think that he knows what it is to be in tune with the environment. What better way to respond to harsh economic conditions than to show that he can stand on his own financial feet?

It has hardly been a bumper year for the Prince and the Duchy of Cornwall. Essentially, the Duchy is a property company, and rental income from its cottages, farms and commercial premises rose a bit. Meanwhile, the Prince spent more on foreign trips and overheads. But he is doing more than making ends meet — he is managing to keep himself in the style to which he has always been accustomed.

The Prince of Wales has claimed a few hundred thousand pounds extra in expenses for official duties and travel from the Government. Since we all know now how one man’s genuine expense is another’s duck house, there is a chance that he could come unstuck. But by declaring his hand through the accounts, with nothing redacted under black ink, he is better able to deflect any brickbats thrown at him.

He has paid slightly less tax, but the fact that he is paying any tax at all shows that his business interests are sound enough to be profitable. It also shows that his political antennae are tuned well enough to tell him that he must help to refill government coffers, which have been so comprehensively clobbered by the credit crunch, and his tax bill exceeds his expenses claims.

Yesterday’s annual report shows that he and his advisers are quite accomplished in matters financial. They deftly protected the royal piggy bank, as storms began to buffet the stock markets. In the autumn of 2007, as Northern Rock fell, the Duchy sold out of equities.

Of course, the Prince can only appear to be self-sufficient because he inherited swaths of prime real estate in the first place. But here, at least, is one national institution that does not need bailing out.

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