LATE QUEEN ALEXANDRA.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5210, 30 November 1927, Page 1

LATE QUEEN ALEXANDRA.

KNOTTY PROBLEMS IN WILL,

A settlement among the different persons interested in Queen Alexandra’s will has finally been consummated.

Had Queen Alexandra not been a member of the Royal Family and widow of a sovereign, says the London correspondent of an American newspaper, it is certain that a very sensational chancery suit would have ensued over the division of the £4,000,000 worth of gold and silver treasure, jewels, antique furniture, and pictures she possessed.

But all parties interested in the late Queen’s will were agreedt hat it was unthinkable the dispute over it should get into the law courts. The persons mainly interested in her will were King George and members of 'his family, Prince Olaf and his mother, the Queen of Norway, and the Princess Victoria.

The position at Queen Alexandra’s death was this : She had bequeathed practically the whole of the contents of the plate room at Marlborough House valued after the death of King Edward at £2,000,000, to Prince Olaf, excepting sundry small bequests to others.

The pictures at Marlborough House and the bulk of the valuably antique furniture she divided between the Queen of Norway and the Princess Victoria, and to the latter she left the greater part of her jewellery. The antique furniture and pictures were valued at £1,800,000 in 1910.

Queen Alexandra assumed that all this property belonged to her absolutely, and that she could make any testamentary disposition of it which she; pleased. But, as a matter of fact, she was not in a. position to do tlhis. A very considerable portion of the gold and silver treasure, and also of the furniture and the pictures, had been King Edward’s personal property. On his deathbed he expressed the wish that all his treasure, pictures, and furniture should be retained by Queen Alexandra for her lifetime. But in his will King Edward divided the greater part of these valuables between King George and Queen Mary the Prince of Wales, and the Princess Mary.

All parties interested in Queen Alexandra’s will, however, agreed that King George should become the guardian of the property until a settlement was made*.

The great steel doors of the plate room at Marlborough House, where £2,00'0,000 worth of gold and silver treasure were placed, were sealed and King George took possession of the keys. Seven of the Marlborough House rooms, containing the bulk of the furniture and pictures, were also locked, the doors sealed, and the keys given to King George. Then ensued a long and patient examination of the catalogued contents of the valuables. The catalogues consisted of 10 books of 1000 quarto pages each. From these books and with the aid of some of the late King’s papers and coi respondence it was possible to ascertain with fair exactitude what portion of the treasure, furniture, and pictures belonged to the late King, and should therefore properly be disposed of in accordance with the terms of his will.