London: Prince William, who will become the first of Diana’s children to be able to take a lump sum out of his late mother’s will when he reaches 30, is set for a multi-million pound windfall next month that will pave the way for him and Kate to buy their first home.
The second in the line of succession could be entitled to over GBP 10 million when he reaches the milestone on June 21.
“It will be quite a handy sum if he wants to buy his and Kate’s first family house. What else would he need the money for?” the Daily Mail quoted one source as saying.
William and Duchess Kate have made apartments at Kensington Palace their London home - but now they are about to have the money to do some serious house hunting for their first home - possibly close to Prince Charles’ Highgrove retreat.
The Royal can also vary his mother’s will to allow brother Harry a greater share of the capital - in recognition that William will one day inherit the income from the Duchy of Cornwall when his father becomes king.
Diana left a net estate of GBP 12,966,022 after inheritance tax of GBP 8,502,330 was deducted.
It is widely believed that with shrewd investment the fund has grown to around GBP 20 million.
Her estate comprised stocks and shares, jewellery, cash from her GBP 17 million divorce settlement, dresses and other personal belongings at her Kensington Palace apartment.
Diana stipulated that it would be held in trust to be shared equally between her two sons, even though William will inherit income from the Duchy of Cornwall estate when he becomes Prince of Wales.
With wise investment by the trustees - which include her sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale - the fund will have soared.
In her original will, drawn up in 1993, the princess had stipulated that both princes would be entitled to their entire share of the capital on reaching 25.
But details of the will were changed by a variation order granted by the High Court on December 19, 1997 - three months after her premature death in a Paris car crash.
In a highly unusual move, the executors made both her original will and the new one public.
The key changes, which were designed to protect the then young princes, included a clause that raised the age at which they could ask for the capital in full to 30.
The changes also ensured that the princes were only allowed small amounts of the income - the interest accrued - at the discretion of the trustees before their 25th birthdays.
But, on reaching 25, both could receive the full amount of income without any restraint from the trustees.
William, who earns about GBP 40,000-a-year as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot, already receives an allowance from his father, Prince Charles, and can draw on money, believed to be about GBP 2 million, left in trust by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
The variations to the princess’s will also stated that her wedding dress, wardrobe and intellectual property rights - including copyright, trademarks and royalties from the use of her pictures and name - can be used for charity and also for the future benefit of her sons.
Provision was also made to allow the princes, if they both wished, to vary the division of capital between them - perhaps to compensate Prince Harry in view of the many millions each year his brother can expect to draw from the Duchy of Cornwall. It is not known if they have done this.
“It is a private matter,” a spokesman for Clarence House said.
ANI
