Prince William Brought a Surprisingly Modern Tweak When He Inherited 700-Year-Old Royal Role

Prince William brought a millennial staple to a royal role dating back nearly 700 years.

The Duchy of Cornwall released its Integrated Annual Report on July 24, pulling back the curtain on the Prince of Wales' multi-million dollar earnings from the Duchy of Cornwall estate. William, 42, inherited the holding when his father, King Charles, acceded the throne in September 2022, as the vast estate worth over $1 billion was established by King Edward III in 1337 to provide funds for the heir.

While the role has historic roots, Prince William communicates about the Duchy of Cornwall on WhatsApp.

"The day after Her Late Majesty [Queen Elizabeth] died, I rang Prince William to say, 'Welcome to your duchy, Sir.' I obviously knew him, I’d been working with him for the previous eight years or 10 years to really explain to him what his future was during the time he was heir to the throne," said Alastair Martin, outgoing secretary and keeper of the records, according to The Times.

"And he said, 'I'm going to give you my mobile telephone number — if you want me, just get me, just message me," Martin said. "And that’s how he works, and he is very involved."

"There will be weekends when my WhatsApp messages will be in double figures, and I will be very responsive," Martin continued. "If something has gone well or badly, I will want to tell my boss, and he’ll be straight back."

The free app for text messaging and calls was the most popular social network among Internet users in the U.K. late last year, Statista reported, and Prince William's proclivity for the speedy medium aligns with his generation. When King Charles was the heir and the Duke of Cornwall, he would connect with duchy management from a landline phone.

"Sustainability is a passion that they both share, but there are some differences," Martin said about the father and son. "His Royal Highness, the 24th duke, would telephone me. His Royal Highness, the 25th Duke, will WhatsApp me."

Before becoming heir, Prince William spoke about his plans for the estate in the 2019 documentary Prince Charles: Inside The Duchy of Cornwall.

"I’ve started to think about how I will inherit the Duchy one day,” William told farmers. “Well, rest assured I’m not going to rock the boat; I’ll do much the same as what my father’s doing. I’m not so into the architecture — that’s the only thing."

The Integrated Annual Report revealed that Prince William received $30 million from his first full year's income from the Duchy of Cornwall estate. As a full-time working royal, the Prince of Wales doesn't earn a traditional income; instead, his annual expenses are largely covered by the estate. The money goes towards the official, charitable and private expenditures of the heir to the throne, his wife Kate Middleton and their three kids, flowing from the Duchy of Cornwall spanning 130,000 acres across 23 counties in England and Wales and encompassing farmland, property and commercial businesses.

It's understood that Prince William pays income tax on the entire income he receives from the duchy, minus household expenses, which have not been specified.

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Soon after King Charles' accession, a royal source told PEOPLE that Prince William was focused on making the most of his new royal role.

"He is going to very much take an active role in it. He is fully immersing himself in it," the source said.

The Prince of Wales most recently made Duchy of Cornwall-related public engagements in May. During an overnight trip to the southwest of England, he visited the hub of the duchy's innovative new housing initiative working to address homelessness in Newquay and broke ground for a new healthcare facility in the Isles of Scilly on land owned by the estate.