Harriman Estate Less Than Expected

Former Ambassador Pamela Harriman left an estate “not much over $10 million,” a close friend said Wednesday, though she had inherited more than $100 million on the death of her third husband, former Gov. Averell Harriman of New York. It consisted mostly of property and jewelry.

In her will, whose contents became known this week, she divided the bulk of the estate between her only son, Winston S. Churchill, grandson of the great prime minister and himself a longtime member of the House of Commons, and his estranged wife, Mary. There was no provision of any kind in the will for Janet Howard, who worked as Harriman’s assistant for 16 years.

According to members of Harriman’s circle, the will was rewritten in January after Harriman and Howard had a series of harsh exchanges. Harriman said there would be no job for Howard when she returned from Paris to Washington this year and Howard handed in her notice.