Queen Elizabeth, Sydney, Australia, November 1986, 63 years
If the vault is opened before then, a letter from Queen Elizabeth will be locked inside
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Both Queen Elizabeth II’s last will and testament, which outlines how her money will be dispersed upon her death in Scotland on Thursday, and her riches, which is sometimes referred to as some of the richest women in the world, have remained secret. Brand Finance, a valuation consulting company, assessed the British monarchy as a brand at approximately USD 88 billion in 2017. Forbes estimated the Queen’s personal wealth through investments, art, jewels, and real estate to be worth approximately USD 500 million. The sovereign’s will and the wills of the other members of the royal clan have traditionally been kept secret.

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The late Queen’s wealth was estimated by “The Sunday Times Rich List” to be worth 340 million pounds in 2015. The Duchy of Lancaster is the primary source of a British sovereign’s personal wealth.

It is the sovereign’s private estate and exists solely to provide the reigning monarch with income; in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, its value was estimated to be around 652 million pounds, and it produced a net excess of 24 million pounds.

It would not even be mentioned in the Queen’s will because it is an inalienable asset of the Crown, according to “The Times,” and would simply pass from sovereign to sovereign without any tax being paid.

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According to the newspaper, a 1993 agreement between the Queen and the then-John Major-led government, in which the Queen agreed to pay income tax for the first time, resulted in no inheritance tax being due on the monarch’s personal wealth.

Bequests from sovereign to sovereign were exempt from inheritance tax as part of that agreement.

The 2013 Treasury Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation states: “The reasons for not taxing assets passing to the next sovereign are that private assets like Sandringham and Balmoral have both official and private uses, and that the royal family as an institution needs sufficient private resources to enable it to continue performing its traditional role in national life, as well as to have a degree of financial independence from the government of the day.
Additionally, because the late monarch served as the source of legal authority, her will does not need to be made public like other wills for technical legal reasons.

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She does not own many of the sources of her wealth, such as the palaces, the Crown Jewels, or the artwork; instead, they are held in trust for coming generations and will eventually pass to the King.