The Duchess of Windsor died on 24 April 1986 at her home in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris.[3] Her funeral was held at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, attended by her two surviving sisters-in-law: the Queen Mother and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. The Queen, Prince Philip, and the Prince and Princess of Wales attended both the funeral ceremony and the burial. She was buried next to Edward in the Royal Burial Ground near Windsor Castle, as "Wallis, Duchess of Windsor".[110] Until a 1965 agreement with Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke and Duchess had previously planned for a burial in a purchased cemetery plot at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, where the father of the Duchess was interred.[111]
Most of her estate went to the Pasteur Institute medical research foundation, on the instructions of Suzanne Blum. The decision took the Royal Family and the Duchess's friends by surprise, as she had shown no interest in charity during her life.[112] In an auction at Sotheby's in April 1987 the Duchess's remarkable jewelry collection raised $45 million for the Institute, approximately seven times its pre-sale estimate.[113] In recognition of the help France gave to the Duke and Duchess in providing them with a home, and in lieu of death duties, the Duchess's collection of Louis XVI style furniture, some porcelain and paintings were made over to the French state.[114] The British Royal Family received no major bequests. Egyptian entrepreneur Mohammed Al-Fayed bought much of the non-financial estate, including the lease of the Paris mansion. The bulk of his collection was sold in 1998, the year after his son's death in the car accident that also claimed the life of Diana, Princess of Wales. The sale raised more than £14 million for charity.[110]
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