Queen Mother's will with details on Kohinoor kept secret By Sanjay Suri, Indo-Asian News Service
London, May 12 (IANS) A will left by the Queen Mother, giving precise instructions on what should be done with the Kohinoor diamond, is being kept secret by the royal family. Buckingham Palace announced last week that the Queen would not publish the details of her mother's will. The decision has already led to a row in the House of Commons with several MPs demanding that it be made public. A portion of the Queen Mother's will has already been carried out. The decision to parade her crown over the coffin through the funeral processions was stated explicitly by the Queen Mother in her will. According to the will, say media reports here, the crown with the Kohinoor in it would stay in public view right until the last private ceremony in Windsor Castle. But the will is believed to have more to say on what she would have like the future of the Kohinoor to be. The palace is declining to publish the will partly because of sensitivities over the Kohinoor. The decision to parade the Kohinoor, which the British took away after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, ruler of the princely state of Punjab in India, has been sharply criticised by Kuldip Nayar, Indian MP and former high commissioner in London. The Foreign Office is believed to have recommended the palace play down any issues over the Kohinoor. Earlier, her will had become controversial over what the Queen Mother has left, and over inheritance tax. Labour MP Alan Williams has demanded "utter transparency" over the will. The will is believed to contain details of the royal family wealth, one of the best-kept secrets in Britain Williams said the Queen should not be allowed to "cover up on money". The Queen is exempt from paying any inheritance tax. Williams said the move is "obscenely generous. It seems a strange argument to say, 'Because we have so much, we should be exempt.'" The Queen Mother is believed to have left a personal estate of 50 million pounds. She received 643,000 pounds a year from the government but she is believed to have spent about two million pounds a year. She employed a personal staff of more than 50. The Queen Mother raised the rest of the family from her investments and from other members of the royal family. Estimates of royal wealth vary widely, from a few hundred million pounds to several billions of pounds. --Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
