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Anne Robinson ‘gives away £50m fortune’ to avoid inheritance tax

Anne Robinson and daughter Emma Wilson
Anne Robinson has a daughter, Emma Wilson, left, and two grandchildren - Dave M Benett/Getty Images

Anne Robinson has said she has given her £50 million fortune away to her family to avoid inheritance tax.

The television presenter, 79, said she had “spread” her wealth now to save her relatives from paying a duty upon her death.

“I’ve given it all away. I don’t want the taxman to have it. I’ve spread it about quite a lot, to the children. They may as well enjoy it now,” the former Weakest Link presenter told Saga magazine.

Robinson has a daughter, Emma Wilson, 43, and two grandchildren, Hudson, 14, and Parker, 13.

Inheritance tax is charged on the part of an individual’s estate above the tax-free threshold, which is £325,000. That can rise to £500,000 if a home is given to a child or grandchild.

The current inheritance tax rate is 40 per cent. Abolishing the tax would leave an £8 billion a year hole in the Treasury finances.

The Telegraph has been campaigning for the abolition of inheritance tax.

‘Good health and family happiness’

Robinson claimed to have “no idea” how much she was worth but conceded she did not “want for much”.

“I can’t think there’s anything I really want except my good health and the family happiness,” she said.

The presenter lives in an 18th-century Grade II-listed barn conversion in the Cotswolds. She also owns two homes in New York, one on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and another in The Hamptons.

Robinson recently revealed she was in a relationship with Andrew Parker Bowles, the Queen’s ex-husband.

Asked whether she was dating the former Household Cavalry officer, who was married to the Queen for 22 years, she said: “Yes. Full stop. Mind your own business.”

She then elaborated on her return to dating in her 70s after a 17-year hiatus, telling Saga magazine: “I’m a great believer in surprising yourself by taking risks. Personally and professionally. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If the worst that can happen is you get some egg on your face, that’s not terrible is it?”

Anne Robinson photographed for Saga Magazine
Robinson claimed to have 'no idea' how much she is worth but conceded she doesn't 'want for much' - Alun Callender/Saga Magazine

Mr Parker Bowles, 84, married Camilla in 1973 and they have two children together, Tom and Laura.

They divorced in 1995 and Camilla went on to marry King Charles 10 years later.

Robinson met her first husband, Charles Wilson, while working as a journalist at the Daily Mail. They married in 1968 but divorced five years later when Wilson was granted custody of their daughter against the backdrop of Robinson’s heavy drinking.

She married her second husband, John Penrose, another journalist, in 1980. They divorced in 2007 when Robinson was at the height of her fame presenting The Weakest Link.