Carry On star Leslie Phillips’ family in High Court battle over £4.4m mansion as third wife refuses to move out
CARRY On actor Leslie Phillips’ family is set for a High Court ding-dong over his will, The Sun can reveal.
The late star‘s estate is suing his wife, Zara, at the High Court, after she refused to move out of their £4.4million marital home.
The long-running spat is said to have strained the relationship between Zara, 68, and Harry Potter actor Leslie’s children, who say they are entitled to the proceeds of the Edwardian mansion’s sale.
Leslie, who died in November 2022 at age 98 after an eight-decade showbiz career, left his family a huge £5.3million fortune and dictated exactly how his belongings should be shared.
He gave his OBE and CBE medals to his grandchildren and a Buddha statue to his third wife, Zara Phillips.
But the actor, known for his “Ding Dong,” “Well, Hello” and “I Say” trademark lines, also stipulated his posh West London house should be sold exactly two years and nine months after his death.
But Zara has repeatedly insisted Leslie, whom she wed in 2013, had promised she could stay there for the rest of her life.
She even claims his will was changed without her knowledge to force the sale of the property and hand more cash to his kids.
At the four-storey Edwardian house, filled with pictures of Leslie, Zara previously told The Sun: “This is my marital home.
“I want to live here for the rest of my life, not to move out.
“Leslie always promised me I could stay here.
The will, seen by The Sun, says the £4.4million house is to be sold two years and nine months after his death, with the proceeds going into a trust.
It means the deadline for the sale passed in August 2025, but Turkish social worker Zara has not moved and is determined to stay put.
The sale trust would have been split between Phillips’ four children from his first marriage, Caroline, Claudia, Andrew, and Roger, as well as Zara.
Phillips’ two sons and two daughters were each left £50,000 in the will, while his 15 grandchildren were each awarded £5,000.
Zara was left £155,000, along with ten of Phillips’ belongings, each worth as much as £1,500, and more than 25 per cent of the shares in the trust fund.
The house spat will now be decided at London’s High Court, though Zara insists she has not been told about the case.
A case filed this week names the Estate of Leslie Samuel Phillips CBE as the claimant, and Zara Phillips as the defendant.
It is listed as a Part Eight claim, meaning the parties do not agree on the facts, and is said to be a case about “provision for family/dependants”.
Speaking outside her home yesterday, Zara told The Sun: “I am very surprised. I had no idea about any of this.
“Leslie’s children have not been in touch with me at all.
“If they want me to come to court, I will do.
“I will come to court and fight it if I must.
“I am planning to stay put. I have no plans to move out – this is my home.
“I will have to speak to my lawyers.”
Zara met Leslie in 1995, but the couple were friends for 18 years before they married.
Leslie was walking near his home when he saw Zara, then a 39-year-old widow, who insisted she did not know the star was world-famous.
At the time, Leslie was married to his second wife, Bond actress Angela Scoular, who took her own life after her cancer returned in 2011.
The executor of Leslie Phillips’ estate, solicitor Martin Terrell, said he could not comment on an ongoing case.
