Edward VII, the Prince's grandnephew, granted permission to historian and Fitzherbert biographer William H. Wilkins to open her vault at Coutts Bank in 1906. The release of Wilkins' book later that year prompted several would-be descendants of the Prince and Fitzherbert to claim the latter's substantial estate. A Rebecca Fitzherbert Harris of Kenvil, New Jersey, maintained that through family lore she was the great-granddaughter of the couple via a supposed son named Thomas Edward, after Fitzherbert's first two husbands. In a letter to Edward VII, Harris claimed that Thomas also had a brother and sister who lived for a time with their mother in Dublin. Thomas was supposedly sent to the United States in 1833 by Fitzherbert who thought her children would be safer there following her death. Harris further stated that her family had received an income from an unknown source in the United Kingdom for many years. Harris requested access to Fitzherbert's papers to pursue her claim of the estate. Edward VII was noted to have acknowledged Harris' letter but stated that he would not assist her further.