The Pogues' Shane MacGowan left more than £5million for his widow Victoria as his estate is revealed following his death aged 65

Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan has reportedly left his entire £5million estate to his widow Victoria Clarke following his death aged 65.

The late singer, who died in 2023 from pneumonia, had his estate valued at £4.8million after already leaving Victoria £730,000 in his Irish will.

Shane had his estate valued according to High Court documents obtained by The Sun, taking his combined fortune to more than £5.5million.

Victoria, 59, was said to be named as the sole executor to the will when it was read at  the Brighton District Probate Registry on Wednesday

If Victoria was to have died before Shane then his estate would have been inherited by his novelist sister Siobhan MacGowan, 63.

The will was signed in Dublin on March 14, 2018 and was also used for his estate in Ireland, which was similarly passed to his widow. 

Shane married Victoria in Copenhagen eight months after he signed the will, where she is described as his 'partner'.

One of Shane's main sources of income was royalties from his 1987 duet with the late Kirsty MacColl.

The Pogues' Christmas melody Fairytale of New York struck a chord with the public and cemented the band's place in rock and roll history upon its release in 1987.

And almost four decades later and the fan-favourite tune is still as popular as ever, with the royalties continuing to roll in.

It was written by Shane and his Pogues bandmate Jem Finer and features the vocals of English singer-songwriter Kirsty.

The genesis of the track reportedly dates back to a bet that the singers could not create a Christmas tune that was not 'slushy', according to music magazine NME.

The folksy homage to old New York plays out a slanging match between an old couple – with Shane playing the male character and Kirsty as the female – as Christmas Day approaches. 

While the Performing Rights Society keep the exact figures private, in 2021 the Independent estimated the song's annual royalties to be around £400,000 from being played on the radio and streaming deals.

However, according to music copyright lawyer Brad Banias, experts predict royalties to 'exceed £500,000' if it finally becomes Christmas number one.

He told The Metro in 2023: 'I'd expect a 10-20 per cent royalty rate split between the band, songwriters MacGowan/Finer and Kirsty MacColl's estate.'

The song has famously never achieved the coveted top spot on the UK charts, despite regularly being named as one of the nation's favourite Christmas classics.

The year it was released, Fairytale of New York reached number two, after being pipped to the post by the Pet Shop Boys' cover of Always On My Mind. 

It experienced a resurgence two years ago, following Shane's death, after an eight-year battle with a brain condition.

The singer's death sparked an outpouring of tributes and kick-started a renewed campaign to get Fairytale of New York to number one for the first time in honour of him and Kirsty, who died in a boating accident a week before Christmas in 2000.

But despite building strong momentum at the start and making it into the top five, the single ended up stalling at number six, with Wham! scoring the top spot for their beloved Last Christmas.

However, Fairytale Of New York still regularly tops polls for Britain's favourite Christmas song, coming out as the top choice in a YouGov survey in 2020.