24 MARCH 2001, Page 28

The price is wrong

From Mr Robert Hardman

Sir: My recent report on the Prince of Wales and the Duchy of Cornwall (-Tea with the Prince', 10 March) contained a figure which surprised me as much as it will have surprised your farming readers. The printed article reported that the Duchy had recently spent £250 million to buy 22,000 acres of land. If true, then the Prince would have been royally ripped off. What I actually wrote was that the Duchy spent '£50 million' on 22,000 acres, I would like to clear up the confusion before anyone forms the mistaken impression that our poor farmers are suddenly sitting on a property goldmine.

Robert Hardman

London WS