Diana divorce left Charles broke. . . almost

[Bucky]

I have a newfound respect for this woman. Looks like she screwed Chuckie hard. Dudes, beward vapid blondes w/high Q-ratings.

Ladies, after you die, expect your ex's to leak these kinds of stories to the press. We are vindictive bastards.

Diana divorce left Charles broke... almost
London
July 26, 2004

Prince Charles was "taken to the cleaners" and handed over his entire personal fortune to Princess Diana as part of their divorce settlement, his former personal financial adviser has revealed.

Geoffrey Bignell, who handled the Prince's financial affairs for more than a decade until 1996, disclosed that the heir to the throne was forced to sell his entire investment portfolio to meet the demands of the Princess. "Princess Diana took every penny he had," Mr Bignell told the Sunday Telegraph. "I was told to liquidate everything, all his investments, so that he could give her the cash. He was very unhappy about that. That's when I stopped being his personal financial adviser because he had no personal wealth left. She took him to the cleaners."

As part of the divorce in July 1996, Diana reportedly received a lump sum of £17.5 million (A$45.2 million) and an allowance for her private office. The Queen also allowed her and Princes William and Harry to continue to live in Kensington Palace.

The divorce of Charles and Diana was negotiated through their solicitors. Anthony Julius represented the Princess and Fiona Shackleton represented Prince Charles. The Princess was encouraged by Mr Julius to give up her title "Her Royal Highness" in return for a better financial deal. Mr Bignell has provided the first detailed account of the extent of the financial impact of the divorce on the Prince. At the time, friends of the Prince described Diana's demands as "excessive", but they came at a time when the Queen was pressing the couple to divorce.

[BuddhaGirl]

1. Big deal

He's still a wealthy man. Isn't he the duke of Cornwall? I think that entitles him to revenue from that.

Besides, he'll inherit gobs when he becomes king.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Exactly. The Australian article left out

the words in bold below from the original UK Sunday Telegraph article:

The Prince, who does not receive money from the Civil List, has an annual income of nearly £12 million from his Duchy of Cornwall estate but he is not permitted to sell off property or use the Duchy's capital. It is understood that the Queen lent her son several million pounds for the divorce settlement and that he is still repaying her.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/20...

[ugarte]

2. Pocket change to the Royals

What's the Queen worth?

[Flaxbee]

9. last I heard, somewhere upwards of $1 billion...

so they're certainly not hurting.

But I am surprised Diana got so much. Charles must have REEEEALLLY wanted out of the marriage, and also knew that the public loved her, not him...

[oldcoot]

14. The Queen wanted them to divorce

According to the article, Diana's demands came at a time when "the Queen was pressing the couple to divorce." If the Queen had not been pressuring them to divorce, Charles might have been in a better position to negotiate a more favorable settlement.

[AP]

4. The taxpayers should do that to all the Royals. It's funny that a divorce

passed more royal money on to the public than anything else that has happened in the UK. But I guess her death brought it all back in to the royal family.

Oh well. Easy come, easy go.

[ocean girl]

5. Boo F**king Hoo

He cheated on her from the beginning of their marriage - I hardly feel sorry for him.

[Eloriel]

19. And was emotionally abusive to boot

BIG time.

[Piperay]

23. Yeah, good

Charles treated her like crap, cheating on her right from the start. I'm glad she took him to the cleaners, it serves him right...it's just a shame how it all turned out for her.

[Racenut20]

6. Not all of us with English heritage are fans

of the "commoner Princess", and accepted her only as Charles choice until the divorce. After that we stopped watching the media's fascination.

[Lindacooks]

7. You're in the minority

and what does 'of English heritage' have to do with it? This was a woman who was globally popular.

[Shopaholic]

17. You're joking right?

Diana had more English blood than Charles did-the man is mostly German!

[Boomer]

20. Neither are all Americans

I'm sorry that she died in a traffic accident; certainly no one deserves that kind of bad luck, regardless of who they may be. But I've never understood the fascination with "Princess Di". She was a naive and extremely insecure young woman who had the very bad judgment to confuse a pragmatic political alliance for a romantic fantasy marriage. I can feel a certain degree of sympathy, even pity, for her situation, but can't for the life of me understand the adulation she inspired. That, I suspect, is also rooted in fantasy rather than reality.

[smada]

8. I would have thought

Prince Charles was worth a little more than £17 million.

[mountainvue]

10. There's no way

Prince Charles was worth only $45 million. He might have liquidated one portfolio, that's all.

[pfitz59]

11. With her death the money returns to the royals

via her boys. Charles lost nothing, but gained a tax-free transfer of wealth to his boy (I would say boys, but there is a question of paternity on the younger one.)

[1monster]

21. Oh, UGLY!!!

Charles accepts and loves Harry as his son, and therefore is is his son regardless of DNA. However, if you look at photos of Charles and Harry, there are certain resemblences. Yes, he also looks a bit like that scumbag with whom Diana had a fling. Coincidence or not, that was UGLY.

[noonwitch]

26. Harry looks so much like Charles, he's got to be his son

I do think this new knowledge will fuel conspiracy theories regarding Diana's death, however. I'm not saying I believe the theories, but being familiar with european history, anything is possible.

[loathesomeshrub]

22. She did not know the scumbag when she had Harry. He is Charles' son

[Matilda]

25. Yes, can't argue with the dates.

The Spencers are also red-haired - Harry actually looks a lot like
Diana's older sister Sarah.

[Liberal Veteran]

12. My God! The poor man must be destitute and living in squalor!

Damn her!

[CaTeacher]

13. he also inherited mega gobs of money when

the Queen Mum died a few years ago. Definitely not hurting.

It is kind of sad though---everything that Diana fought for ($$$) is probably back under the control of that family! Very ironic.

[Hand]

15. Well, maybe...

Old Chuckie should GET A JOB! Assuming anyone is looking to hire a good-for-nothing scion of obscure German aristocracy with a majorly depleted set of genes...

[SemperEadem]

16. So what?! We don't have a monarchy in this country, so why do we care?

the woman's dead. Let her stay dead and buried. Life is for the living. Nothing in that article is going to make her reanimate, so let her stay dead and gone. Life has marched on.

If she had any kind of good sense, she would have done what Queen Alexandra did--endured til she was queen consort and then behaved exactly as she pleased, despite what others thought. There is no way I would have divorced the heir to the throne when I knew what kind of payoff was down the road. I'd have shut up and lived elsewhere til I got my consort's ring, scepter and crown. I'd have found SOMETHING to do with myself beside pout and whine about Camilla. It's not like he was the first prince in England to cheat.

Kings and princes during the course of England's history have had mistresses and bastards on the side. Charles II was notoriously unfaithful to Catherine of Braganza, with whom he had no living children, but had scads of bastards. James I/VI was gay and had lovers. We all know Henry VIII's track record and aftermath. Edward VII, Alexandra's husband, was a notorious philanderer.

[fortyfeetunder]

18. DDNN strikes again

Geez, the woman has been dead almost seven years, and the Diana Death News Network never has stopped running....Guess this is what "gone but not forgotten" means...

[Tashi]

24. THEY ARE A COMPLETE WASTE OF SPACE.

BRING ON THE REPUBLIC NOW.