Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Queen Elizabeth's Lawyer Lobbied Government to Hide 'Embarrassing' Personal Investments

Queen Elizabeth's Lawyer Lobbied Government to Hide 'Embarrassing' Personal Investments

The true extent of Queen Elizabeth's wealth has never been made public but it is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of pounds.

Uncovered government documents found in the UK's National Archives reveal that Queen Elizabeth's private lawyer pressured politicians to change legislation so her shareholdings could remain undisclosed, according to a report in The Guardian on Sunday.

Following an intervention by Buckingham Palace, Conservative ministers during the government of Ted Heath included a clause into the law which gave the government the ability to give an exemption to firms owned by “heads of state” from new legislation on corporate transparency.

The reports show that lawyers acting on behalf of Her Majesty invoked the Queen’s consent arrangement. Under this system, the reigning monarch is informed if a law could impact either the royal prerogative or private interests prior to parliamentary approval.

According to the archived memos, in November 1973 the Queen was concerned that the proposed bill to bring transparency to corporate shareholdings would open her finances to public criticism.

The Queen's private lawyer Matthew Farrer reportedly spoke to employees of the then Department of Trade and Industry regarding the proposed new measures in the bill. Farrer reportedly claimed that the Queen was worried about the possibility of her private investments being revealed.

A Civil Servant named CM Drukker said on 9 November that he spoke with Mr Farrer, who relayed to him his client's concern "over the risk of disclosure to directors of a company as to shareholders and the general public".

“He justifies this not only because of the risk of inadvertent or indiscreet leaking to other people”, Drukker continued, adding that "basically because disclosure to any person would be embarrassing".

Downing Street subsequently proposed the inclusion of an additional clause to the legislation which would permit the government to give specific firms exemption from otherwise mandatory shareholder revelation. After the general election that same year which put the Labour Party into power, the Harold Wilson government maintained the bill unaltered and it became law in 1976.

Members of Britain's Royal family from left, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Princess Eugenie, Queen Elizabeth II, background Timothy Laurence, Princess Beatrice, Prince Philip, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince William watch a fly past as they appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, after attending the annual Trooping the Colour Ceremony in London, Saturday, June 17, 2017


A spokesperson for the Queen told The Guardian that “Queen’s consent is a parliamentary process, with the role of sovereign purely formal. Consent is always granted by the monarch where requested by the government".

“Whether Queen’s consent is required is decided by parliament, independently from the royal household, in matters that would affect crown interests, including personal property and personal interests of the monarch."

“If consent is required, draft legislation is, by convention, put to the sovereign to grant solely on the advice of ministers and as a matter of public record."

Despite the use of the Queen’s consent system typically being recorded in the parliamentary debate recorder 'Hansard' before a bill's third reading, no such notification of consent for the 1976 law can be found.

An exemption is given almost immediately following the law's approval to a company called Bank of England Nominees Limited, controlled by top Bank of England officials, which has been previously highlighted as a potential possible funnel through which the Queen owns shares.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×