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Probate, princes & privilege

21 January 2022 / Michael L Nash
Issue: 7963 / Categories: Features , Constitutional law
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Michael L Nash explores the secretive history surrounding the sealing of royal wills

The need—or the desire—for privacy has always been an element of the actions of those in high places.

The presence of privilege also has been accepted in any hierarchical society, which most societies are. Parliament in the UK, for example, is no stranger to privileges, nor any of the other components of the establishment.

The point is this: people have become much more aware of their rights, or what they perceive as their rights. One of these is that everyone is equal and has the same rights. So, when it is known that for most people their wills fall into the public domain, and can be read by everyone, there is disquiet and questions when a few wills are sealed and kept from general view.

It is equally arguable, as was done in the recent case concerning the will of the late Prince Philip, that everyone’s wills should be sealed and kept out of the public domain. Counsel

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NEWS
The government’s plan to introduce a Single Professional Services Supervisor could erode vital legal-sector expertise, warns Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, in NLJ this week
Writing in NLJ this week, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers argues that the ‘failure to prevent’ model of corporate criminal responsibility—covering bribery, tax evasion, and fraud—should be embraced, not resisted
Professor Graham Zellick KC argues in NLJ this week that, despite Buckingham Palace’s statement stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his styles, titles and honours, he remains legally a duke
Writing in NLJ this week, Sophie Ashcroft and Miranda Joseph of Stevens & Bolton dissect the Privy Council’s landmark ruling in Jardine Strategic Ltd v Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd (No 2), which abolishes the long-standing 'shareholder rule'
In NLJ this week, Sailesh Mehta and Theo Burges of Red Lion Chambers examine the government’s first-ever 'Afghan leak' super-injunction—used to block reporting of data exposing Afghans who aided UK forces and over 100 British officials. Unlike celebrity privacy cases, this injunction centred on national security. Its use, the authors argue, signals the rise of a vast new body of national security law spanning civil, criminal, and media domains
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