If the public had access to Queen Elizabeth II’s will, it would offer unique insights into the late monarch’s wealth, but in contrast to the wills of ordinary British residents, it will remain sealed and locked in a safe for at least 90 years.
The custom of encrypting the wills of deceased royals dates back to 1910 and the little-known Prince Francis of Teck, whose will is one of more than 30 that are held in a safe under the supervision of a judge in an undisclosed location in London.
The executor of a senior royal’s will typically requests that the will be sealed from the head of the London High Court’s Family Division once the senior royal passes away. Judges who have held that post in the past have all concurred.
Those specifics weren’t made public until after the passing of the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, in April 2021, when judge Andrew McFarlane was tasked with handling the request to have his will sealed.
The judge decided that the will should be sealed, but he also chose to make his decision public so that everyone would know what was happening and why.
The judge disclosed the location of the safe containing the royal wills and that he was in charge of it as the current president of the Family Division despite not knowing what was within the sealed documents.
The late queen’s will, when it is deposited in the safe alongside her husband’s, will join those of her mother Elizabeth and sister Princess Margaret, who both died in 2002.
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