Following his death at the age of 99, many wondered what Prince Philip‘s net worth is and who inherited his fortune. Not unlike his wife and monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, it’s safe to say that the Duke of Edinburgh amassed a great deal of wealth over his lifetime. Below, we dive into what might happen to it now that he is no longer with us—but first, read on for a bit of background on the Iron Duke himself.
Long before he became the Queen’s husband, Philip was already born into royalty as the Prince of Greece and Denmark. His parents, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, were in line for the Greek throne until they were exiled when he was only eighteen months old. Together they fled with his four eldest sisters, Princesses Cecilie, Margarita, Sophie, and Theodora, to France. There, Philip was educated in Paris (and later Germany and the United Kingdom) before eventually joining the British Royal Navy in 1939 at the age of 18.
By March of 1939, Philip was a naturalized British citizen and adopted the last name Mountbatten from his mother’s family, otherwise abandoning his Greek and Danish royal titles. It was in that year he also began exchanging letters with Queen Elizabeth, who he would later go on to marry in 1947.
On the eve of their wedding, Lieutenant Mountbatten was formally named Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron of Greenwich, and given the title of His Royal Highness. As well as inheriting these royal titles, Prince Philip went on to amass a wide range of assets and money alongside his wife, the Queen. So how much was Prince Philip’s net worth, exactly? Read on below for Prince Philip’s net worth, along with what happened to his estate following his death at the age of 99 in April 2021.
What was Prince Philip’s salary?
As the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip earned a royal allowance from the Sovereign Grant, an official expense account paid for by British taxpayers, of around $500,00 (or £400,000) per year. While it’s unclear if Philip continued to receive this allowance following his retirement from official royal duties in 2017, he still maintained access to funds earned by a private portfolio of properties, lands, and assets set up by the Duchy of Lancaster in 1399. As the Queen, Her Majesty also maintained a private income from the Duchy of Lancaster estate.
Together, the couple is also believed to share a portfolio of stocks and land inherited by the Queen’s family, such as Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham Estate in England.
Who inherited Prince Philip’s estate?
As most of Prince Philip’s estate was shared between him and the Queen,Her Majesty continued to hold onto Philip’s assets following his death. The royal couple also shares four children—Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. As Philip’s children, they also likely inherited a share of his assets. After more than 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022. She was 96 years old.
According to Fortune, King Charles, Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son with Prince Philip who ascended to the throne after her death, inherited most of her $500 million in personal assets after her death. Those assets included her investments, art collection, jewelry and real estate holdings, which include Sandringham House in Norfolk, England, and the Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where the Queen died.
Queen Elizabeth also inherited almost $70 million in assets after the Queen Mother’s death in 2002. Those assets a stamp collection, fine china, jewels, horses, and even a valuable Faberge egg collection and paintings from artists like Monet, Nash and Carl Fabergé. According to Fortune, there is a legal clause that exempted the Queen from paying an inheritance tax on the estate left by her Queen Mother, which will apply to Charles too. Under an agreement with former Prime Minster John Major in 1993, inheritance from sovereign to sovereign is exempt from the United Kingdom’s 40-percent inheritance tax. The agreement was create to avoid the erosion of the British royal family’s wealth.
However, Charles won’t inherit the British royal family’s whole $28 billion empire, which include the estate of the estate of Scotland, the Crown Estate, the Duchy of Lancaster, the Duchy of Cornwall, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace. According to Fortune, he will only inherit the personal assets designated to him by his mother.
What was Prince Philip’s net worth?
At the time of his death in April 2021, Prince Philip reportedly had a net worth of around $30 million, or £24 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
How did Prince Philip die?
In their statement, Buckingham Palace confirmed that Prince Philip passed away “peacefully” on the morning of April 9, 2021, at his home in Windsor Palace. Sophie, the Countess of Wessex and the wife of Prince Edward, revealed at a church service on April 12 that Philip was surrounded by his family when he died. “It was right for him. It was so gentle,” she said. “It was just like somebody took him by the hand and off he went. Very, very peaceful and that’s all you want for somebody isn’t it?”
Prince Philip’s body lied at Windsor castle before his funeral at St. George’s Chapel, which was both in line with custom and the Duke of Edinburgh’s wishes. “With Prince Philip, he has asked for a much more quieter event. He has asked, in his words, a simple affair and that is exactly what is happening at the ceremonial service that will take place at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle,” Omid Scobie, co-author of Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, told Entertainment Tonight in April 2021.
Image: Courtesy of Atria Books.
For more about Prince Philip’s life, check out Ingrid Seward’s biography about the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip Revealed, Seward, a Majesty magazine editor who has been covering the British royal family for decades for, unravels the “enigma” that we know as Prince Philip. From his early childhood in Paris to his mother’s battle with schizophrenia to his military service in World War II, Seward covers topics that many royal followers may not know about or haven’t seen on The Crown. The book also discusses how Prince Philip was “initially distrusted” by the royal court before he found his place in Buckingham Palace.
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