ZAHAROFF “MILLIONS"

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 158, 1 April 1937, Page 3

ZAHAROFF “MILLIONS"

What the Will Reveals SURPRISE FOR EXPERTS ■What has become o_f the £10,000,000 which Sir Basil Zaharoff, the “Prince of Armaments Salesmen,” was reputed t<> be worth at the time of his death in November? Publication of his will revealed that he left estate in England valued at £193,103. and his property in France is declared to be worth only £lOO,OOO.

French law does not compel publication of the value of a person’s estate, so it is possible that the extent of Sir Basil’s fortune in that country will never be known to any but those directly concerned. Probate in England has been granted to Mrs. Christine Walford, of Kensington Palace Gardens, W„ who is_ described in the will as Sir Basil's ‘ adopted daughter.” Mrs. Walford is the wife of Mr. Leopold Walford, a shipowner, of St. Mary ’Axe, E.C. She is a daughter of the late Lady Zaharoff by her first husband, the Duke of Marchena. a great-grand-son of Charles 111 of Spain and a distant cousin by marriage of King Alfonso. The late Lady Zaharoff married Sir Basil in 1924 and died in 1926. The other daughter and eo-heiress is Countess d'Ostrorog. The amount of money left by Srr Basil in Great Britain came as a surprise to financial experts, who thought that his holdings in that country were much greater. For many years he had made his home on the Continent, and the greater portion of his investments were in foreign countries.