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.
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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