The army took control of a hotel during WWI under a discretionary prerogative power and failed to pay compensation to the owners, claiming the prerogative power availed them of the need to. HL ruled that actually they do have to pay compensation to a person whose property they take for whatever purposes. Lord Parmoor says that prerogative rights have had to be curtailed in order for constitutional liberty to exist. The prerogative to indefinitely take someone’s property without compensation no longer exists and has been reduced by statute. Statute overrules prerogative!
