TALK OF THE TOWN: Prince William gives his most loyal friend and closest confidant top job on Duchy Estate after ditching Queen's sister

Prince William may have thrown the Queen's sister Annabel Elliot off the Duchy of Cornwall payroll – but for his pal, it's a different story.

William has made his most loyal friend and closest confidant William van Cutsem an adviser for the Duchy Estate.

Van Cutsem, 45, known as 'VC' to friends, is Prince George's godfather.

Many say he is like a brother to William, 42, so he is a natural choice to help to run the Duchy of Cornwall as an 'adviser to the council'.

William inherited maintainance of the 130,000-acre Duchy estate from his father Charles after the Coronation in September 2022. He made £23 million from it last year. The amount of tax he will pay has not been revealed.

Van Cutsem is well qualified for his role – as a chartered surveyor, he specialises in logistics, renew-able businesses and building storage facilities across Britain.

In the Duchy's annual report van Cutsem is said to have a 'keen interest in regenerative farming practices within the family's home and farming businesses'.

The two Williams have country homes 20 miles apart in Norfolk.

They were pictured together in June as Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, married Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral. 

Van Cutsem's appointment was revealed in the Duchy of Cornwall's annual report, where it was also disclosed that Camilla's sister Annabel would no longer be employed by the Duchy of Cornwall, after two decades of service.

Annabel, at 75 two years younger than the Queen, was employed as chief estates designer by Charles after he married Camilla in 2005.

She was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds over two decades to decorate and update the Duchy's holiday cottages in Cornwall, Wales and the Isles of Scilly.