Veteran entertainer Sir Ken Dodd, with Anne Jones at Buckingham Palace in 2017 (Picture: Rex)

Ken Dodd has had the last laugh as it is thought he married his wife two days before his death in order to ensure that the tax man does not take up to £2 million from her.

Ken married his partner of 40 years Anne Jones on 9 March, two days before he passed on 11 March.

Inheritance Tax is a tax on the estate – including property – of the person who has passed but you pay no inheritance tax if you leave your estate to your spouse, civil partner or charity; Ken’s fortune is thought to be worth £7.2 million, including the Liverpool house where he was born and raised and where he and Anne lived for decades.



The smart decision comes four decades after Ken was found not guilty of dodging a £1 million tax bill after it was discovered he had kept over £300,000 in cash hidden in suitcases under his bed.


When asked by the judge, ‘What does a hundred thousand pounds in a suitcase feel like?’, Dodd made his now famous reply, ‘The notes are very light, M’Lord.’

Lady Anne gives a statement outside her Liverpool home (Picture: PA)

Anne spoke to press outside the house where Ken was born and lived and died, for 90 years on Monday, hours after his death was confirmed.

‘I have lost a most wonderful husband,’ she said, as her voice shook. ‘We first met when I was in the Ken Dodd Christmas show in 1961 at the Manchester opera house.

‘I’ve had the supreme joy and privilege of working and living with him as partner for the past 40 years. The world has lost a most life-enhancing brilliant creative comedian with an operatically-trained voice who just wanted to make people happy.

‘He lived to perfect his art and entertain his live and adoring audience.’

Ken, Anne and his tickling stick (Picture; PA)

She went on to reveal she had been ‘overwhelmed by the love and affection which I have already received from dear friends and the public’. She ended: ‘I thank you all for being here, thank you thank you. I’m not used to this. Sorry to keep you in this rain!’

ken and Anne married on Friday 9 March, two weeks after Ken was discharged from Liverpool Heart and Chest hospital following six weeks of treatment for a severe chest infection.

Ken’s publicist Robert Holmes said: ‘He asked Anne if she wanted to marry. They got the registrar and were married in the house on Friday.

‘He died two days later on Mother’s Day. Anne is obviously very upset. They had been together for 40 years. It’s a love story to beat them all.’

MORE: Ken Dodd’s wife of two days struggles to hold back tears as she pays tribute to comedian