Posted on 07/24/2004 6:24:05 PM PDT by quidnunc
The Prince of Wales was "taken to the cleaners" and handed over his entire personal fortune to Diana, Princess of Wales, as part of their divorce settlement, his former personal financial adviser has revealed.
Geoffrey Bignell, who handled Prince Charles'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 Telegraph last week. "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 and an allowance for her private office. The Queen also allowed her and the Waleses' two sons, Princes William and Harry, to continue to live in Kensington Palace.
The Waleses' divorce was negotiated through their respective solicitors. Anthony Julius represented the Princess and Fiona Shackleton represented Prince Charles. The Princess, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997, was encouraged by Mr Julius to give up her title "Her Royal Highness" — a move she later regretted — in return for a better financial deal.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I might have been able to muster some sympathy, but wasn't it Charles that was caught with his trousers down?
Sheesh. Should've just had her beheaded.
I believe they are all on welfare.
Then I guess the tie-breaker comes down to whom was caught first and/or who intiated the divorce.
Well the guy gets 12 million pounds a year, so he won't be walking the streets with a sign "will work for food," any time soon.
Once a twit, always a twit.
She would be wearing a Burka right now if she were alive.
As for Diana, she was unfaithful as well. One strongly doubts she would have done this had she not learned that her husband was still so devoted to his mistress and would never love her.
It was a tragic chicken-and-egg situation: was Charles unfaithful because he was married to a neurotic, or did Diana become increasingly depressed and desperate because her husband was in love with someone else?
I refrain from judging these sad people.
Thanks for shedding some light. I had no idea (which is probably a good thing) about the length of time he was with the "other woman."
i think england should bring back beheadings.
PS i hate the royal family and I hate having to hear about them in the news (though thankfully they havent appeared in awhile, though when DI died i was about throw my tv away). Didnt we fight a war with these people so we wouldnt have to hear about these inbred chinless buck tooth feebs anymore??
Shows how tacky Princess Diana really was.
"...but wasn't it Charles that was caught with his trousers down?"
He was not supposed to pull them up. Ancient royal traditions and rights of the Crown. Besides, "honi soit qui mal y pense"...
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Maybe that's why he couldn't afford the ear tuck and jaw implant.
Just think for a mere 2 weeks of his pay most of us could set up a nice little trust to retire on. Nope. I'm not shedding any tears for this dweeb.
Just think for a mere 2 weeks of his pay most of us could set up a nice little trust to retire on. Nope. I'm not shedding any tears for this dweeb.
Agreed. She was sort of pre-Paris Hilton.
IMHO he married her b/c she was young, relatively pretty,not overly educated, gigglily, and (supposedly)virginal.
Whereas Camilla is/was older (closer to his own age), handsome-in-a-1930's-British-sort-of-way, sensible, and, I believe, a divorcee (widow? Either way, she was an unsealed package, shall we say?).
Who gets all that money now? Their sons.
You must not know the Fayed family very well.
They are big time jet setters, and far from hard core conservative Muslims.
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