Why Kate and Wills did not sign a pre-nup agreement
Prince William and his bride did not sign a prenuptial agreement, it was confirmed yesterday.
Senior royal sources said no legally binding document was drawn up before the wedding to safeguard his wealth or ensure she is maintained in regal style if they split.
From the moment the engagement was announced, divorce lawyers have said a prenup – popular with Hollywood stars – might be ‘practical’, given the unenviable success rate of recent royal marriages.
Trust: No agreements have been made should there be a divorce in the future
A recent decision by the Supreme Court effectively made prenups binding in English law.
Yesterday royal aides dismissed reports that William was advised that a legal agreement would be a good idea but had refused to sign one.
‘For him to refuse, it would have had to have been suggested to him by someone and it was not,’ said a well-placed source. ‘There is no prenuptial agreement in place for this wedding.’
William, 28, earns £37,170 a year as a flight lieutenant in the RAF.
But he was left £6.5million by his mother Princess Diana, which through investments is likely to have grown substantially since her death in 1997.
Jigsaw: Kate used to work for the retailer before going on to help in her parents' online business
Flight Lieutenant: Prince William earns just over £37,000 in the RAF
In addition, Prince Charles pays the costs of William’s household. Last year he spent £1.6million on personal expenses for himself, his wife and his sons.
And eight years before her death the Queen Mother reportedly placed two-thirds of her money in trusts for the benefit of her great-grandchildren. But the newly-titled Duchess of Cambridge has no income.
She quit her job at her parents’ online party supplies business in January to throw herself into planning the wedding. She had previously worked for retailer Jigsaw.
Without a prenup, it is left to lawyers to battle out a settlement if a couple divorce. The Duchess of York received £15,000 a year from Prince Andrew when their marriage ended after ten years in 1996.
But Princess Diana’s lawyers got her a £17million pay-off when she divorced Prince Charles.
After William and Kate’s engagement, Princess Diana’s former private secretary Patrick Jephson said: ‘If she was my sister, I’d tell her to get a good prenup.’ And he warned: ‘Kate’s not just going into a marriage, she’s going into a business.’
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