The contents of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Will will not be seen by the public for at least 90 years, according to the High Court of Judiciary. Despite the fact that probate has already been granted.
The legal step is intended to safeguard the Queen and other members of the royal family from “public guesswork and speculation,” which is nothing new in royal circles.
The Royal Will of Prince Philip is kept in a vault with 29 other documents. Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the High Court’s Family Division and a renowned senior judge in those courts, is in charge of this.
Sir Andrew decided on Thursday that a royal will would be unsealed and evaluated after 90 years by the monarch’s private solicitor, the keeper of the Royal Archives, the attorney general, and any remaining personal representatives of the deceased. They’ll decide whether or not the Will of Prince Philip should be made public at that time.
To avoid any harm to the documents and seals, it is recommended that a Royal Will be unsealed by a competent archivist.
However, Sir Andrew confirmed that it was entirely feasible that certain Royal Wills would remain unpublished permanently.
Recent Royal Wills that have been disputed
The Queen Mother’s and the current Queen’s sister Princess Margaret’s wills were the most recent additions to the collection. Princess Margaret died in February 2002, at the age of 71, and the Queen Mother died a month later, at the age of 101. In 2007, a guy named Robert Andrew Brown claimed to be Princess Margaret’s illegitimate child and challenged the privacy of these documents. His request to make both Wills public was denied.
After Diana, Princess of Wale died in 1997, her will was made public. It was discovered that she had bequeathed her riches to her sons William and Harry. The funds were held in trust until they reached the age of 25.
The practise of sealing royal wills dates back over a century.
A will is usually made public when probate has been obtained, an executor has been chosen, and distribution has occurred. However, the tradition of sealing the Wills of senior members of the royal family has been practised for over a century. In July, Prince Philip’s Will was sealed through a private appeal to the courts. A similar process will take place in 90 years, with the Royal Will either being made public or remaining sealed.
Sir Andrew overruled the Queen’s solicitor and attorney general, who wanted the time limit to be set at 125 years.
The possibility of a sealed bid opening is a historical first.
However, history was created at the application hearing. This is because it is the first time that the possibility of opening a sealed Royal Will at a later date has been made available.
“I have ruled that, given of the constitutional position of the Sovereign, it is appropriate to establish a specific practise in connection to royal wills,” Sir Andrew explained.
“In order to safeguard the dignity of the Sovereign and intimate members of her family, there is a need to increase the security offered to really private parts of the life of this small group of individuals.”
Sir Andrew acknowledged that the meeting for the Application to Seal the Will was held in private to avoid public speculation and interest. He found the contents of the Will to be “not truly in the public interest,” and in any case, the Attorney General presided over the meeting as the public face.
Mary Queen of Scots’ honour was safeguarded by a sealed will.
Prince Francis entrusted costly emeralds beloved by his wife, Mary Queen of Scots, to his mistress at the time, the Countess of Kilmorey, in 1509, prompting the need to seal Royal Wills.
Prince Francis of Tech, who died in 1910, was the first member of the present Royal Family to have his Will sealed. He was Queen Mary’s younger brother.
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