The prime minister has been urged to tackle the royal family's exemption from inheritance tax.

The challenge came after it was revealed that no details of the Queen Mother's will will be released into the public domain.

Under the terms of an agreement between the Queen and the previous Tory government the royal family does not pay inheritance tax despite paying other personal taxation.

The Labour MP for Bolsover, Dennis Skinner, called for a change in the law to ensure that senior royals pay inheritance tax on their personal wealth.

"On the subject of money, has my right honourable friend had a word with the chancellor of the exchequer in the last few days, in order to ensure...that everybody carries the same burden," he said.

"Will he be introducing rules to change the Tories 1993 act that disallowed certain people from being involved in paying inheritance tax? Will he bring the Royal Family into the net? In Jubilee year?"

The prime minister declined to comment on the issue. "I am sure that the chancellor has heard what he's said," he assured.