New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-16
KING EDWARDS WILL
Secrecy Maintained Concerning
Dispositions of Monarchs.

Copyright. 1910. By the Erent-ooe r,orr..-,
Nothing definite will ever ha ,sro,,-,, 80
corning the testamentary dispositions IF
Edward VII The courts of probate have
no power over the will of the Sovereign nor
Is there any legal machinery bv which nro-
oate can be granted. Therefore the r,,,blic
has no means Of sscertaining its contents
Ever so great a gossip as Charles GreviIle
author OF the famous Memoirs was nm
able to obtain any information regarding
the wills OF George " and William ".
despite his being the secretary and chief
clerk OF their Privy Council.
only one royal English viii has ever been
made public 1t was that of Henry VII.
But II related TO the disposition Of the
crown. rather than TO his private property.
AFTER his marriage with Lady Jane sey-
nour he secured an act of Parliament
authorizing him. to dispose of the crown.
either by letters patent ''or by his last will.
made in writing, and signed under his
haflo' 10 such person or persons, in posses
sion or remainder. and after such order or
condition as he should judge expedient =
Inc Will was made and deposited In the
registry Of the Prerogative Court of the
Archbishopric of Canterbury, and its pro-
visions devising the crown in default of
issue Of his children-Edward, Mary and
Eilzaheth-to the grandchildren of his
younger sister, are fully set out in FulIer's
Church History Of Britain
In 1900 Prime Minister Pitt secured the
enactment by Parliament of a measure
known as the private property OF sover-
elgn act. authorizing the King, his heirs
ana successors. by any instrument under
MS or their royal sign manual, attested by
TWO witnesses, or by his or their last will
ana testament in writing. duly signed by
him and attested by witnesses" TO give or
devise any lands. property. etc, purchased
out OF moneys issued and applied for the
Use Of the privy purse or with moneys
not appropriated to any public service" A
section of this act declares that all moneys
for the privy purse, or not appropriated to
any public service or effects. which shall
not come to his majesty in right of the
crown, shall be deemed personal estate,
and subject TO disposition by his will in
writing. Still another clause of the same
act dispenses with the necessity of publica-
ton of the terms of the will
To what extent the provisions of the
viii of q monarch receive execution de-
ponds largely on the good will OF his sue
cessor, and il is a matter of historic record
that when, after the death of George I. the
Archbishop Of Canterbury handed to his
sen. George II, the deceased monarch's will
by the terms Of which he had made enor-
nous requests TO his German sultana, the
Duchess Of kendall. and to other equally
unsavory favorites, the new King consigned
IT TO the flames. It is only within the last
two years that through the unearthing of
some documents in the British Museum in
formation was obtained subsequently sub
stantiated by official records in Germany
that the King had not destroyed his faith
er's viii until he had submitted ii to his
ministers of the crown in England and in
Hanover and had obtained their approval
Of its destruction as shameful and alto
gether disgraceful document, calculated to
injure the dynasty.
Other rulers are understood to have acted
in much the same way when confronted
b. analogous testamentary dispositions on
the part Of their predecessors on the
throne, and those who suffer thereby have
virtually no means Of redress.
II is only now and then that little day
light is let by chance into ahe mystery of
royal wills, as, for instance, when unsuc-
cessfui attempts were made by the revenue
officials of England to tax certain moneys
which Alexander III and also Alexander
IL had left on deposit in London banks.
Indeed, most of the immense fortune which
Alexander II left to his morganatic wife,
Princess Yourieffska, and her children was
bequeathed in this fashion: that is to say,
after being deposited il London in order
10 prevent any attempt by his successor
Alexander Ill TO withhold the property
from her.