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Offshore Leaks Database

Data from
Paradise Papers - The Power Players
Queen, United Kingdom (1952-present)

Queen Elizabeth II

About

Elizabeth II has ruled the United Kingdom as queen since 1952, when her father, King George VI, died.

In the data

In 2005, the Duchy of Lancaster, Queen Elizabeth II’s private estate and portfolio, invested $7.5 million in Dover Street VI Cayman Fund LP, according to files from the offshore law firm Appleby. The fund invested in and profited from a company that developed fingerprint technologies for mobile phones and made investments in other high-tech and pharmaceutical companies. Other investors included British and U.S. universities, a United Arab Emirates bank and charitable foundations. In June 2008, the queen’s estate received about $360,000 from its investment.

The Cayman fund also invested in a private equity company that controlled BrightHouse, a U.K. rent-to-own firm that has been criticized by consumer watchdogs and members of Parliament for selling household goods to disadvantaged Britons on payment plans with annual interest rates as high as 99.9 percent. From at least 2004 to 2010, the duchy also invested in the Bermuda-based Jubilee Absolute Return Fund.

The queen’s offshore investments have not been disclosed in annual financial reports of the duchy, which is not obliged to reveal the details of her personal wealth. The queen voluntarily pays tax on income received.

Response

The duchy has an ongoing investment in the Cayman Island fund and was not aware of the investment in BrightHouse, a spokeswoman for Queen Elizabeth II told The Guardian, an ICIJ media partner. The queen voluntarily pays tax on income from the duchy and its investments, the spokeswoman said. She also confirmed the duchy’s investments in two additional offshore funds. “The duchy’s investment policy is based on advice and recommendations from our investment consultants and asset allocation rather than tax strategy,” the spokeswoman said.
This visualization contains relevant information in relation to the profiled individual. Some additional connections might show up once we release the full structured data connected to the Paradise Papers investigation in the coming weeks. Record manually added from leaked documents.

Disclaimer

There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. The inclusion of a person or entity in the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database is not intended to suggest or imply that they have engaged in illegal or improper conduct. Many people and entities have the same or similar names. We suggest you confirm the identities of any individuals or entities included in the database based on addresses or other identifiable information. The data comes directly from the leaked files ICIJ has received in connection with various investigations and each dataset encompasses a defined time period specified in the database. Some information may have changed over time. Please contact us if you find an error in the database.

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