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Contents of Secret Royal Safe Holding Prince Philip's Last Wishes Revealed for First Time Ever

prince philip
prince philip

Terry Oneill/Getty Prince Philip

Prince Philip's will is stored inside a secret London safe along with those of 32 other senior members of the royal family, it was revealed Thursday.

The strongbox – which is in the care of High Court judge Sir Andrew McFarlane at the Royal Courts of Justice – holds a unique selection of royal wills dating back to Prince Francis of Teck in 1911.

This includes the final wishes of Queen Elizabeth's mother, the late Queen Mother, her sister Princess Margaret, and her uncle the Duke of Windsor (also known as King Edward VIII), who abdicated the British throne in December 1936, McFarlane revealed Thursday.

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh pictured 1/6/2020 in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle ahead of his 99th birthday on Wednesday.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh pictured 1/6/2020 in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle ahead of his 99th birthday on Wednesday.

Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in January 2020.

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Other testaments secreted inside the top-secret safe revealed by McFarlane on Thursday, include those of Philip's uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten of Burma, Queen Mary, the wife of King George V, and Princess Beatrice, the youngest child and close companion of Queen Victoria.

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"I am now custodian of a safe in which there are over thirty envelopes, each of which purports to contain the sealed will of a deceased member of the Royal Family," McFarlane stated in September when revealing the existence of the royal safe during a legal battle over the secrecy of Prince Philip's last wishes, following his death on April 9. He was 99.

"I can confirm that the earliest such envelope is labeled as containing the will of Prince Francis of Teck," he added. "The most recent additions were made in 2002 and are, respectively, the wills of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and Her late Royal Highness Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon."

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Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Queen Elizabeth with the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret

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Other than learning about whose wills are secreted in the mystery royal safe alongside the Duke of Edinburgh's, however, there's very little chance that any of the details contained in the documents themselves will ever be revealed.

During his September ruling, McFarlane stated that the royal family was entitled to an enhanced level of privacy "to protect the dignity and standing of the public role of the sovereign and other close members of her family."

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He also ruled that applications to have the wills unsealed could only take place after 90 years, adding that any claims submitted prior to that date were "highly likely to fail in the absence of a specific, individual or private justification relating to the administration of the deceased's estate."

"In short," he added, "the publication of the list is intended to be an end in itself, in order to achieve transparency, and nothing more."

Watch: Prince Philip death - The Duke of Edinburgh dies, aged 99

Full List of wills kept inside the secret royal safe

1. Prince Francis Joseph Leopold Frederick of Teck

2. Alexander William George, Duke of Fife

3. Prince Morris Victor Donald of Battenberg

4. Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

5. Lord Leopold Louis Mountbatten

6. Helen Frederica Augusta, Duchess of Albany

7. Princess Helena Augusta Victoria, Princess Christian

8. Princess Frederica Sophia Maria Henrietta Amelia Theresa of Great Britain

9. Princess Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar, Princess Royal

10. Princess Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary

11. Queen Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria of Norway

12. Prince Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert of Connaught

13. Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, Duchess of Argyll

14. Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert, Duke of Connaught

15. Prince George Edward Alexander Edmund, Duke of Kent

16. Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore of Battenberg

17. Maud Alexandra Victoria Georgina Berth, Countess of Southesk

18. Princess Louise Sophia Augusta Amelia Helena

19. Queen Mary

20. Princess Franziska Josepha Louise Augusta Maria Christiane

21. Princess Alexandra Victoria Alberta Edivina Louise, Princess Arthur of Connaught

22. Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, Princess Royal

23. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent

24. Prince William Henry Andrew Frederick of Gloucester

25. Prince Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, Duke of Windsor

26. Lady Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth Ramsay

27. Prince Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester

28. Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas, Earl Mountbatten of Burma

29. Princess Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline, Countess of Athlone

30. Prince Georg Valdemar Carl Axel of Denmark

31. Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

32. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother