The British daily The Guardian announced on Monday that it had obtained permission to appeal after the exclusion of the media from a hearing which decided to seal for 90 years the last wishes of Prince Philip, the husband of Elizabeth II who died in April 2021.
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It has been convention for more than a century that, after the death of a prominent member of the British Royal Family, an application should be made to the President of the Family Division of the High Court in London that the last wishes of the deceased be sealed.
Last September, magistrate Andrew McFarlane ordered that Prince Philip’s will be sealed for 90 years to protect the Queen’s “dignity”, during a private hearing in which the media could not participate.
the Guardian indicated that he had obtained the right to challenge the exclusion of the media before the Court of Appeal, seeing it as “a serious interference in the principle of transparent justice”. His appeal is aimed at the Attorney General, responsible for advising the government legally, as well as the Queen’s private lawyers.
According to the left-wing daily, this appeal will draw attention to “the secrecy surrounding an obscure exemption granted to the royal family”. The wills of more than 30 members of the monarchy have been kept secret since 1910, he pointed out, while British law provides that everyone’s last wishes must be made public, in particular to avoid fraud and prevent beneficiaries.
Prince consort with record longevity, the Duke of Edinburgh died on April 9, 2021 at the age of 99.