Queen Alexandra’s Will

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 158, 24 September 1927, Page 24 (Supplement)

Queen Alexandra’s Will

Knotty Problems Arise.. . Prince OlaiF’s £2,000,000... Sealed Doors at Marlborough House. . .

-TTrßr;. SETTLEMENT among '< r the different persons interested in Queen AlexQlJ’ andra’s will finally has ■ISSkST been consummated. nNMiQM-l 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 agreed that 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. Large Share Left to Prince Olaf 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 valuable 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 oil and asphalt, contribute to the island’s wealth. The Pitch Lake near Brea, in the west of Trinidad, is one of the chief sights of the West Indies. More than a hundred acres in extent, and of unknown depth, it is so hard that carts can pass safely over it. A tram line is laid on it to convey the pitch, and as the rails sink down they are pulled up every few days and relaid on the top. More than 200,000 tons of pitch are obtained every year and sent to all parts of the world, to be mixed with sand or lime for paving, and each morning the trench that was made the day before is found to be filled up again by the pressure of the vast mass from underneath and on either side. Jamaica was discovered by Columbus in 1494, and colonised by the Spaniards in 1509. Columbus named it St. lago, in honour of Spain's patron E.aint, but later it reverted to its old native name of Xaymaea, of Jamaica, which seems to mean the land of springs. The illustration in this article is that of the very picturesque town of Charlotte Amaiie, capital of the Island of St. Thomas. This island is one of the Virgin Group, and was a Danish possession until 1916, when it was bought by the United States.

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 this. 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 divided

Crown Prince Olaf of Norway who was left a princely fortune by his grandmother Queen Alexandra. the greater part of these valuables between King George and Queen Mary, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Mary. King George Named Guardian On Queen Alexandra’s death, therefore, the question at once arose, how much of the property bequeathed by her to Prince Olaf and the Queen of Norway was the Queen’s to will? That question had to be answered with some degree of exactitude and it was not an easy matter to settle. AH 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 £2,000,000 worth of gold and silver treasure were placed, were sealed and King George took possession of the keys. Seven of the rooms at Marlborough House 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 1,000 quarto pages each. From these books and with the aid of some of the late King’s papers and correspondence 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.