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Prince Harry, who was
recently in Chile after spending time
in Brazil, is currently earning a £38,847 salary for his
role as a captain in the Army. When Diana, Princess of Wales died
nearly seventeen years ago, she left nearly £13 million in her
will, which also incorporated the money from her £17 million
divorce settlement.
The settlement included shares, jewellery, cash and personal items
from Kensington Palace, which was her home. Under the stipulations
of the will, the money was to be halved between William and Harry
when they reached the age of 25, however executors of the late
Princess of Wales changed the details so that the Princes would
receive the money when they were 30.
Prince Harry was just 12 when his mother was killed in a car crash
in Paris in August 1997; Prince William was 15.
The value of the legacy is over the inheritance tax threshold of
£325,000, which includes any assets held in trust or gifts made
within seven years of death, and therefore should be reduced by
almost half according to the UK’s tax authority.
A Royal source is quoted as saying, “There is no way Harry would
dodge the tax, there are few similarities between the average
person and William and Harry but when it comes to tax, they also
have to pay their way”.
photo credit: UKTI via photopin cc]]>
Diana’s will made no reference to money. Her final will was made before her divorce and did not include any changes post divorce Her will was written in 1993, with a codicil in 1996.. When Diana died, her financial worth was about £21 or so million. She inherited £5 million when her father died. The divorce settlement was about £15-17 million. Sadly, Diana never set up a trust fund to protect that money. According to a British law, Charles was legally entitled to reclaim the divorce settlement because Diana died within a time frame of the money being transferred. (This was written and discussed at the time.) John Major, who was appointed a guardian for the princes’ interests, advised that it would not be politically expedient for Charles to take back the divorce settlement (even though it was legal, and would have saved a larger percent of the money from the taxman.) Thus, it was agreed that Charles would not take back the money. About half of the original inheritance was lost to taxes, leaving about £11 million for the two princes. One assumes the money was well invested, but we can only guess how much each prince inherited at the age of 30. Henry’s pot would have continued to grow after William received his portion.