Duke of Windsor - Financial Settlement
chrissy57 said:
When Edward VIII abdicated one of the sticking points was over the respective inheritances of Edward and his brother Albert (George VI). I am not sure how they solved that. Maybe some others can remind me as I have simply forgotten.
Sources: "Wallis - Secret Lives of the Duchess of Windsor" by Charles Higham;
"The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor" by Michael Bloch.
The new King joined the family at Sandringham for the reading of George V's will just days after his death, and before the funeral. To his horror he was not included. Clause after clause was read out, and every few minutes he would interject an anguished "Where do I come in?" The royal solicitor was obliged to say that he did not. It was presumed that he had built up a substantial sum from the Duchy of Cornwall. The King was beside himself with rage. He exclaimed "My brothers and sister have all this money and I have nothing!" At that time (1936) he had amassed from the Duchy an estimated £1 million worth of investments and property (the equivalent of over £20 million in 1988 values). Plus he had inherited the life interest in Sandringham and Balmoral.
On the morning of the Abdication the King held a meeting with his brother the Duke of York and advisers to discuss his financial future. It was suggested the King return Sandringham and Balmoral to his brother. However, he did not prove to be cooperative. Instead he would compel his brother to pay him £25,000 a year (equivalent to £500,000 pa in 1988 values) in return for releasing the two houses.
The King (still Edward VIII) was displeased. The news that he would not henceforth receive the income from the Duchy of Cornwall was a matter of great distress to him. He had apparently forgotten that an abdicated monarch was not entitled to that income.
Acrimonious negotiations dragged on for some time and the Duke of Windsor refused to release the two houses until he was paid up front, or received an income via the Civil List. The latter proposal was vetoed by the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, and the King gave a personal obligation that he would take care of the Duke's income of £25,000 pa (less £4,000 for disabled staff at the houses, leaving £21,000 net).
The final settlement, made in February 1938, involved the King paying £300,000, being the value of the private royal estates, to trustees who invested it in British Government War Loan stock. The income from this was £10,000pa. The King put in the rest, ie £11,000, to make up the agreed annual income for the Duke of £21,000, on condition the Duke of Windsor did not come to or remain in England without the approval of the government.
The Duke wrote to his solicitor "After the insulting way I have been handled, I feel neither grateful, appreciative nor relieved." The Duke also complained in vain to the tax commisisoner about having to pay tax on the income from his British investments, and for years continued to pester the King for more money, with no success.
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