The King was the sole beneficiary of the Queen’s estate, estimated to be worth more than £650million.

There is said to be ‘some resentment’, particularly from the Duke of York, that he and his siblings have not yet been given what they feel they are owed.

A palace source said the Queen’s fortune had passed directly ‘from monarch to monarch’ because that was the most ‘tax efficient’ way to transfer it. A decision made in 1993 means no inheritance tax is paid on assets moving from one sovereign to another.

But that means none of the Queen’s other children, including Anne and Edward, have received money.