TV star Phil Spencer’s parents left him & siblings huge sum after car crash tragedy, documents show
TELLY host Phil Spencer’s parents left their £18 million fortune to the Location, Location, Location star and his three siblings, probate documents reveal.
Elderly Richard and Anne Spencer – who died together last August when their car careered into a river on the farm where Phil grew up – split their fortune between the star, his older brother Robert and younger sisters Caryn and Helen.
In the couple’s wills, which were both made public today, Richard – known by his middle name David – left a total of £15.3million while his wife Anne passed on £2.9million.
David’s will – drawn up in 2007 – saw him give £10,000 to each of his eight grandchildren and a £20,000 donation to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
The rest of his fortune was placed in trust for the benefit of his two sons, TV presenter Phil and older brother Robert – who ran the family farm – and the couple’s daughters.
Anne’s will, which she signed in 2021, stated that £500 gifts should be given to a nephew and niece living in Canada and as well as her godson.
She also made provision for a donation from her estate to go towards the maintenance of her local church in the Kent village of Littlebourne, near Canterbury. The documents do not state an amount.
Anne asked that her daughters take possession of her jewellery and distribute it between themselves and her granddaughters and daughters-in-law.
And she left the couple’s farm and her fortune to be split between the four children.
Anne, 82, was at the wheel of the Toyota car – with David, 89, in the passenger seat and a carer in the back – when tragedy struck at 12.20 pm on August 18 last year.
They were on their way to a local pub for lunch when the vehicle slipped off a bridge into the Nail Bourne River, which runs through their estate at Littlebourne, near Canterbury, Kent.
The couple’s carer – a woman in her 60s – managed to clamber out of the car and raise the alarm – but David and Anne could not be saved.
Paramedics and fire crews raced to the scene, but Phil’s Dad died from a lung injury and Anne died from pneumonia and near-drowning.
The accident happened on the bridge which was said to be “extremely narrow” and provided access to the farm in Kent where they worked and lived.
After the alarm was raised, Phil’s brother Robert used a penknife to cut David and Anne’s seatbelts.
But neither of the couple – raced by ambulance to hospital in Margate – could be saved.
An inquest later heard that David and Anne were trapped underwater for 20 minutes.
Heartbroken TV star Phil, 54, paid a moving tribute after the tragedy, saying his parents “would have held hands under the water and quietly slipped away”.
He added: “As a family we are all trying to hold onto the fact Mum and Dad went together and that neither will ever have to mourn the loss of the other one. Which is a blessing.
“The car, going very slowly, toppled over a bridge on the farm drive, upside down into the river.
“There were no physical injuries and I very much doubt they would have even fought it – they would have held hands under the water and quietly slipped away.
Mum and Dad are together which is precisely where they would have wanted to be
Phil Spencer
“All family are clear that if there can ever be such a thing as having a ‘good end’ this was it.
“Mum and Dad are together which is precisely where they would have wanted to be.”
Phil – who lives in Hampshire with wife Fiona and their children – has previously spoken of his childhood on the farm which his parents bought after they wed.
In an interview, he said: “Living on a farm, with places to run around, have adventures and learn about nature helped us grow up with a sense of responsibility.
“Mum would take us out in the holidays to help with what was being harvested. We were happy to get involved and be useful.
“I have lots of happy memories.”