Prince William turns 25, entitled to share of Diana's wealth

LONDON: Prince William turned 25 on Thursday and in doing so became entitled to part of the multi-million pound inheritance left to him by his late mother, princess Diana.   

The second in line to the throne is now allowed access to the income accrued on the 6.5 million pounds (9.67 million euros, 12.94 million dollars) he was left in his mother's will after she died 10 years ago in a car crash in Paris.   

Royal officials said they do not discuss the young prince's financial arrangements, amid media speculation that he could now have access to between 250,000 pounds and 350,000 pounds per year.   

But unnamed sources quoted by Britain's Press Association news agency said the future king will not touch it for now.   

"Nothing will change on his birthday," another source told the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Tuesday.   

Diana left an estate worth 21 million pounds, most of it in stocks, shares, jewellery, dresses and personal items, plus the proceeds from the estimated 17-million-pound divorce settlement from Prince Charles in 1998.   

Eight million pounds from her estate was paid in inheritance tax, leaving 12,966,022 pounds to be split equally between William and his younger brother Prince Harry, 22.   

Each of their 6.5-million-pound share is estimated to have grown to about nine million pounds following investment, according to the PA.   

The terms of Diana's will meant that neither William nor Harry were entitled to touch the income from their share until they reached 25, although income could be paid before that age at the discretion of trustees.   

Both William and Harry can ask for their share of the capital in full when they turn 30.   

William, seen as one of the world's most eligible bachelors after his split in April from his long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton, was spending his birthday training with the army in south-west England.   

The prince earns just under 22,000 pounds per year from the army and is paid an allowance from income from his father's Duchy of Cornwall estate, which he will eventually inherit.   

He is also thought to have access to about two million pounds in a trust left to him by his great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II's mother, when she died in 2002.