Buckingham Palace fights back: Queen did not try to 'hide private wealth'

Buckingham Palace has insisted the monarch did not try to conceal her private wealth. Photo / Getty Images

Buckingham Palace has come out swinging, denying that the Queen has been dishonest about her personal wealth, and labelling claims as "simply incorrect".

The Palace denies suggestions that the Queen blocked a piece of legislation in the 1970s, and made edits to suit her own status.

The Guardian claimed that the monarch's private lawyer successfully lobbied the government to change a draft law to conceal her private wealth.

The newspaper added that a clause had been included in the law in the 1970s granting the power to exempt companies used by "heads of state" from new transparency measures.

However, according to The Sun, a spokeswoman for the Palace outright rejected these suggestions and said that the Queen had intervened.

The spokeswoman shared: "Queen's Consent is a parliamentary process, with the role of sovereign purely formal.

"Consent is always granted by the monarch were requested by the government. Any assertion that the sovereign has blocked legislation is simply incorrect.

"Whether Queen's Consent is required is decided by Parliament, independently from the Royal Household, in matters that would affect Crown interests, including personal property and personal interests of the monarch.

"If consent is required, draft legislation is, by convention, put to the sovereign to grant solely on the advice of ministers and as a matter of public record."

The Guardian claimed that documents in the British National Archives, show that in 1973 the head of state was nervous of a bill bringing transparency to company shareholdings. They claim this could result in the public being able to scrutinise her finances.

It also is claimed that her lawyer had spoken to the then Department of Trade and Industry about the Companies Bill and proposed the Queen be exempted.

The Guardian said that proposal became law in 1976 and applied until at least 2011.

Her Majesty's estimated publicly known worth is around NZ$667 million, putting her 372nd The Sunday Times rich list.