TV star Phil Spencer was left a ‘enormous fortune’ by his mother and father who died in horror river crash on household farm
Phil Spencer was left a substantial fortune after his parents died in a tragic river crash when their car toppled over a bridge, probate documents have revealed.
Richard and Anne Spencer split their £18million assets between the Location, Location, Location star, his older brother Robert and younger sisters Caryn and Helen, The Sun first revealed.
The couple were submerged in around three feet of water when their car plummeted over a bridge last year and were pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.
Anne, 82, was driving the car, which she had owned since 2022, down a narrow, single-track road from the family home towards a bridge on their land, which passed over the Nail Bourne River at around 12.20pm on August 18.
The pair had been on their way to a local pub lunch when travelling along the road, which was private and not used by the public.
In the couple’s wills, Richard, 89, known by his middle name David, left £15.3million while Anne passed on £2.9million.
David’s will, which was drawn up in 2007, offered £10,000 to each of his eight grandchildren, as well as a £20,000 donation to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Location, Location, Location star Phil Spencer pictured with his elderly mother Anne
Phil (left) with Location, Location, Location co-host Kirstie Allsopp (right)
Richard and Anne Spencer (pictured) split their assets between Phil, his older brother Robert and younger sisters Caryn and Helen
Tributes were left at the spot where the Location, Location, Location star’s parents died
Richard and Anne were leaving their farm to travel to a local pub for lunch when their car drifted into a shallow river
Meanwhile, the remainder of his fortune was put in trust for his sons, who ran the family farm, and the elderly pair’s daughters.
Anne reportedly wished for her daughters to take possession of her jewellery and share it between themselves and her granddaughters and daughters-in-law.
TV star Phil paid a moving tribute to his parents after the tragedy, saying they ‘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.
‘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.’
The road where the accident happened is also a bridle path and a popular spot for locals to walk their dogs.
Detective Sergeant Chris Wade previously said the road surface approaching the bridge was ‘uneven in places’, adding: ‘The road rises up onto a concrete-brick constructed bridge which allows traffic to cross the Nail Bourne river.’
He continued: ‘The bridge is extremely narrow and produces an S-bend. The slight incline onto the bridge severely restricts view of the near-side and off-side edges of the road.’
