Everything You Need To Know About Princess Diana’s Death: From Her Net Worth And Will, To The Reason Her Family Secretly Changed It

At the time of Princess Diana’s death, BBC characterized the whole week as the worst one of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. The whole Britain joined Prince William and Prince Harry in mourninig their beloved mother. Many rumors followed her during her royal life, and so they have after her death. We made a list of 15 things you might want to know about, which happened after the Princess’ death, so let’s take a look.

Princess Diana’s net worth at the time of her death

At the time of her death, Princess Diana’s net worth was up to £21 million, the equivalent of $31.5 million at the time. Most of that net worth was from her divorce setttlement from Prince Charles, because before the divorce, her net worth was up to $1.2 million per year.

What did her estate include?

One year and three days after divorcing Prince Charles, Princess Diana died. Her estate included £17 million divorce settlement, stocks and other investments, jewelry, dresses, and some personal belongigns. At the time of her death, her items had a value of £21 million, while after estate taxes, their value was nearly £17 million.

What percentage of Princess Diana’s money came from Prince Charles?

Prince Charles had to sell his entire investment portfolio, so he could give Princess Diana the cash after their divorce. Prince Charles’ financial adviser, Geoffrey Bignell said: „I was told to liquidate everything, all his investments so that he could give her the cash. That’s when I stopped being his personal financial adviser because he had no personal wealth left.” In 2016 Prince Charles’ total assets were reaching $1.3 billion.

Princess Diana’s Will

On 1st June, 1993, Princess Diana had signed her will. She wanted to leave her estate to her sons, in equal shares. On 1st February, 1996, she modified it by a codicil. Her executors and trustees were changed from her mother and her personal secretary to her mother and her sister, so they had the power to interpret Diana’s will as they chose.

What did her will say?

Princess Diana’s butler got £50,000 from her will. 75% of her jewerly and possessions was left to her sons, and remaining 25% would go to her 17 godchildren. Her will established a Discretionary Fund and left the „residuary estate“ to Prince William and Prince Harry.

Condition for Prince William and Prince Harry’s inheritance

Prince William and Prince Harry’s shares of the resuduary estate would be held in trust until each of them turned 25, as Princess Diana stated in her will, but the executors didn’t honor that.

Change of Princess Diana’s will by her family

Princess Diana’s mother, Frances Ruth Shand Kydd, and her sister, Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia McCorquodale, didn’t really follow her instructions. They distributed her estate differently than planned.

The change of will affected Prince William and Prince Harry

According to Princess Diana’s will, her sons were able to receive their inheritance once they turned 25 each, but the executors delayed the distibution until the princes were 30. At the age of 25, both William and Harry got an access to the income from their trusts, but inheriting their share of the residuary estate was delayed till they were 30.

Were other terms of the will changed?

The delay of princes’ inheritations wasn’t the only change made by Princess Diana’s mother and sister. The duo also changed what Diana’s godchildren received. Each godchild got just one item from the estate, which was far less than the Princess planned to give them and that “effectively stripped all intended recipients of a share worth approximately $160,000.” This change was made without notifying the parents of the godchildren.

How much did the godchildren lose out?

“When the parents of the godchildren were told about the Letter of Wishes, they were, by and large, shocked and outraged. Instead of receiving one-quarter of the personal property (each share of which would have been worth, conservatively, £100,000 or $160,000), each godchild received what was called by some a ‘tacky memento’“, the publication reads. These changes were kept a secret, until unrelated court proceeding revealed the truth about the changes.

The Executors got away with everything

The Letter of Wishes, aka Princess Diana’s will, didn’t use words that are required by British law, which allowed her executor to change the will the way they wanted, and not honor her wishes.

Princess Diana’s personal possessions

Her belongings ended up on display. In the time between Princess’ death and Prince Harry turning 30 years old, Diana’s personal possessions were looked after her brother, Earl Spencer. The collection which included her wedding dress, two diamond tiaras, family jewels, home movies, letters, and photos, went on public display. The display lasted for two months each year at Althorp, and in the months that the collection wasn’t at Althorp, it traveled the world.

How much did the exhibition earn?

During the traveling the world, the collection of Princess Diana’s private belongings raise more than $2 million. Forbes stated: “The Spencer family says the proceeds were donated to a charitable fund created in Diana’s memory after she passed, called the ‘Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund’.” Many believed that the delay of distributions to Prince William and Prince Harry had everything to do with Althorp public display of Princess’ belongings. Also, it was believed that her family wanted to make money on count of her death. There were questions that were never answered about why Diana’s family did some of the things after her death.

Who made money from Princess Diana’s death?

After Diana’s death many people tried to make some money out of it, by writing books, selling memorabilia, and so on.

Did Princess Diana’s will cover some of the needs of Meghan Markle?

Prince Harry’s net worth mostly comes from his inheritance from his mother, Princess Diana, while his expenses are paid by the estate of his father, Prince Charles. Since Princess Diana’s will established Discretionary Fund, which benefits her sons and their spouses and descendants, Meghan Markle also made some income from it.

Source: cheatsheet.com