Wallis, Duchess of Windsor | Memorandum and related documents on the terms of her will, 1971-72

Wallis, Duchess of Windsor

Manuscript memorandum, together with related documents on the terms of her will, comprising:

i) Manuscript memorandum signed, in the hand of her lawyer Sir Godfrey Morley, providing "suggestions for the dispersal of my residuary estate", asking that specific groups of items be given to appropriate members of the Royal family ("...Letters and papers of historical interest which I may not have given to the Queen in my lifetime to be given to the Queen on my death...") and the residue be used to establish a charitable foundation "in memory of the Duke of Windsor", 3 pages, 8vo, headed mourning stationery, Paris, 1 July 1972 

ii-iii) Typed letter signed, to Rossmore Assets Limited, expressing her wishes for the dispersal of her residuary estate, including the granting of pecuniary legacies, her hope that chattels of historical interest should be given to museums, and charitable gifts, 2 pages, 4to, Paris, 27 December 1971 (two copies)

iv) Louis, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, typed letter signed, to Sir Godfrey Morley, explaining that the Duchess was "worried about what to arrange in her Will for the late Duke's possessions", and outlining "certain suggesions which she asked me to repeat in writing", largely corresponding to the wishes expressed in (i), and confirming the Royal family's "readiness to agree to anything which the Duchess may decide along these lines", 2 pages, 4to, Broadlands, 6 July 1972

DOCUMENTS OUTLINING THE DUCHESS OF WINDSOR'S PLANS FOR HER ESTATE. Rossmore Assets was a company created by the Duke of Windsor to allow the Duchess to enjoy full benefits of his estate during her lifetime, and for the residue to then to return to Britain and be distributed for charitable purposes. Sir Godfrey Morley of Allen & Overy had been the Duke's lawyer. Plans for the distribution of the Duchess's own property were bitterly contested in her final years. Sir Godfrey Morley was dismissed in 1973 and, as the Duchess's health declined, power of attorney passed to another lawyer, Suzanne Blum. A deeply controversial figure, she was accused of manipulating the estate for her own advantage. The Duchess's jewellery was ultimately sold in a record-breaking auction Sotheby's to benefit the Marie Curie Institute, whilst the remaining chattels were sold to Mohamed Al-Fayed.