Phil Spencer left ‘huge fortune’ by parents who both died in tragic accident

The presenter’s mother and father were involved in a shock river crash this summer

Phil Spencer has reportedly been left a significant inheritance following the tragic death of his parents, who died in August when their car plunged off a bridge and into the Nailbourne River, according to probate documents.

The Location, Location, Location presenter, 54, along with his older brother Robert and younger sisters Caryn and Helen, have inherited an estimated £18 million fortune from their parents, Richard and Anne Spencer.

Spencer’s father, Richard, 89, known by his middle name David, passed on £15.3m, while Anne, 82, left £2.9m, per The Sun.

David’s will, which was drawn up 17 years ago, leaves £10,000 to each of his eight grandchildren and a £20,000 donation to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the paper reports.

The remainder of the TV personality’s father’s fortune has been placed into a trust for Spencer and his brother, who ran the family farm and their sisters Caryn and Helen.

Meanwhile, Anne specified in her will that she wanted her daughters to have her jewellery and share it amongst themselves, her granddaughters and daughters–in–law.

Spencer’s parents spent 20 minutes trapped underwater after their car tipped over the edge of a bridge near their farm in Kent, an inquest heard last December.

Phil Spencer and his parents, Anne and Richard Spencer (PA / Instagram - Phil Spencer)

Anne had been driving with her husband in the passenger seat and their full-time live-in carer in the back of their Toyota car just after midday when it crashed into the Nailbourne River.

Their carer was able to climb out of the car and raise the alarm quickly, according to Mr Spencer when he announced his parents’ deaths on Instagram.

Though emergency services spent 90 minutes at the scene trying to revive them, both were later pronounced dead.

Hours after the accident, Spencer shared that his parents’ health had been declining, with his mother having Parkinson’s and his father having dementia, and they were pulled from the submerged vehicle by Spencer’s brother, who managed to cut their seatbelts with a penknife.

Spencer on ‘Location, Location, Location’ (Channel 4)

“Although they were both on extremely good form in the days before (hence the sudden idea to go out to lunch), mum’s Parkinson’s and dad’s dementia had been worsening and the long-term future was set to be a challenge,” the property expert wrote in an Instagram post.

“So much so that mum said to me only a week ago that she had resigned to thinking ‘now it looks like we will probably go together’. And so they did.”

Following their deaths, the presenter paid tribute to his “amazing” parents and shared his appreciation that neither parent would have to live without the other.

“As a family, we are all trying to hold on to the fact Mum and Dad went together and that neither will ever have to mourn the loss of the other one,” he wrote, adding: “Which is a blessing in itself.”