Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother died 22 years ago this week, on March 30, 2002—at the impressive age of 101 years old. A full life lived, the beloved Queen Mother left a large chunk of her fortune to be split between her great-grandchildren, including Prince William and Prince Harry—but thanks to some foresight on her part, Harry got significantly more of an inheritance payout than his older brother for one key reason.
When it came to her great-grandchildren, the Queen Mother “had thought about their financial futures long before she died,” The Mirror reports. “It’s said that she put a large amount of her money into a trust fund for all her great-grandchildren. But Prince Harry got more than his brother William from the Queen Mother for an important reason.”
Between them, William and Harry had £14 million to share, but Harry got more of the payout because the Queen Mother knew that, when her daughter Queen Elizabeth passed away and her grandson Prince Charles became King Charles (which ultimately happened 20 years later, in September 2022), William would become Prince of Wales, which is exactly what happened. As Prince of Wales, William is in possession of the Duchy of Cornwall, “a private estate that pays for the public, charitable, and private activities of the heir to the throne,” The Mirror reports. “Harry won’t get any of this.”
The Guardian reports that the Duchy of Cornwall is worth over £1 billion.
His inheritance from his great-grandmother—along with his inheritance from his mother, Princess Diana—allowed Harry, wife Meghan Markle, and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to build a life in the U.S. following Harry and Meghan’s step back as working members of the royal family in 2020. (Subsequently, Harry and Meghan have signed numerous business deals, including with Netflix, Spotify, and Penguin Random House, among others.)
When Diana died, she left her sons £12,966,022, which was reduced to £8,502,330 “after death duties,” The Mirror reports. “However, astute investments overseen by royal advisors saw this amount swell to over £20 million over the years. Both Princes Harry and William gained access to these funds upon reaching their twenties.”
Diana’s inheritance “also consisted of stocks and shares, jewelry, dresses, other personal belongings, and cash from her £17 million divorce settlement,” The Daily Express reports.
As for the Queen Mother’s estate, Buckingham Palace revealed some details surrounding it, despite trying to keep it mostly private—it is valued between £50 million and £70 million in 2002 dollars, and was passed on to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her only surviving child. (Her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, died just the month before she did on February 9, 2002, at 71 years old.)
In addition to the inheritance received by her great-grandchildren—which was put into a trust fund and apparently amounted for two-thirds of her fortune; reports suggest that “Harry was the primary beneficiary,” The Daily Express reports—“Many items from the Queen’s private art collection were given to the Royal Collection and went on display at Buckingham Palace,” The Mirror writes.
