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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Lisa McLoughlin

Anne Robinson 'gives away' £50million fortune to family to avoid inheritance tax bill

Anne Robinson has revealed that she has “spread” her fortune around to save her family from paying inheritance tax after her death.

The former Weakest Link presenter said she has “given away” her reported £50million fortune to her daughter and grandchildren to prevent it from going to the “taxman”.

Inheritance tax is levied at 40 per cent on an individual's estate exceeding £325,000 in value, although there are exemptions.

The government website explains that some gifts given during a person's lifetime may still be subject to tax after their death.

Depending on when the gift was given, “taper relief” could reduce the inheritance tax on the gift to less than 40 percent.

The former Countdown host told Saga magazine: “I’ve given it all away. I don't want the taxman to have it. I've distributed it widely, to the children. They might as well enjoy it now.”

Robinson pictured with her daughter in 2008 (Getty Images)

Robinson welcomed her daughter Emma Wilson, 43, with ex husband Charles Wilson. She has two grandchildren; Hudson, 14, and Parker, 13.

The broadcaster admitted she has “genuinely no idea” if she is worth £50million but insisted she doesn't “want for much” and “can't think there's anything I really want except my good health and the family happiness”.

The 79-year-old currently resides in a Grade II-listed, converted 18th-century barn in the Cotswolds. Additionally, she owns two homes in New York - one on the upscale Fifth Avenue and another in the affluent Hamptons.

The TV presenter also confirmed her relationship with Andrew Parker Bowles, the Queen’s ex-husband, 84, after rumors circulated about a possible romance between the two.

She told the outlet: “Yes. Full stop. Mind your own business.”

Robinson was previously married to the late Charles Wilson, a former journalist and newspaper executive, until their divorce in 1973. She divorced her second husband, John Penrose, in 2007.

While Parker Bowles married Queen Camilla in 1973, and they had two children, Tom and Laura, before divorcing in 1995.

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