Palaces, diamonds and horses: the most comprehensive guide to the assets of Queen Elizabeth II

Ordo News EditorSeptember 13, 2022Last Updated: September 13, 2022

98,432 6 minutes read

(ORDO NEWS) — How and how much do Elizabeth II and her family members earn, why the monarch is not included in the Forbes list, how much does Buckingham Palace cost and other questions about the economy of the British royal house.

The phrase “born with a golden spoon in his mouth” is definitely about Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, because the great-grandmother of the first-born Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, who died on September 8, 2022. However, how big is the fortune of the most powerful monarch in the world?

Despite the fact that Elizabeth II, who has ruled the kingdom since 1953, called several palaces and estates home at once, wore tiaras from Cartier, owned rare paintings, kept thoroughbred English horses and combined an incredible amount of elegant hats with an equally incredible amount of colorful costumes, she did not was a dollar billionaire. According to a 2019 estimate, the monarch’s fortune was about $500 million. Nevertheless, any billionaire would definitely envy the lifestyle of Elizabeth II.

The Queen directly owned only a few properties such as Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham Palace in Norfolk in the east of England. The most valuable assets of the royal family, including Buckingham Palace, are managed by a special body called Crown Property. It is not under the control of either the queen or the government of Britain.

If Elizabeth II owned the Crown Property (and this is a huge amount of land and real estate in Britain), as well as the Duchy of Lancaster (established in 1265 by a private trust fund of real estate, to which the same property rights apply), then, according to Forbes, there would be would be the richest person in the country and the third richest woman in the world with a fortune of more than $25 billion. Moreover, this estimate does not take into account the value of the trust fund of the royal collection: with such valuable exhibits as Faberge eggs and Rembrandt paintings, it is worth more than $1 billion.

In addition, Elizabeth II also earned. The Queen received an annual income from the Crown Property, whose total assets are estimated at $18 billion, and the Duchy of Lancaster. In 2018, the monarch received $ 27 million (before taxes) for personal expenses. The Sovereign’s Grant, which is 25% of the income of the Crown Property, is allocated to entertainment expenses, which include staff salaries, travel funds, maid services, maintenance and even information technology support (the Queen has an Instagram account). A separate article is the funds that the queen won by betting on the races.

Elizabeth’s eldest son, Prince Charles, cannot compete with his mother in wealth. The Prince of Wales receives an annual income from the Duchy of Cornwall. It is managed by a real estate trust fund with 53,000 hectares of land and commercial assets worth more than $450 million.

Despite the fact that the whole world admires the royal family, there are skeptics in Britain who believe that the spending of Elizabeth II and her descendants is a heavy burden on taxpayers. Richard Haig, managing director of Brand Finance, said the criticism is undeserved: “Last year we concluded that the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle generated almost $1.5 billion for the UK economy.” In the latest monarchy assessment report for 2017, Brand Finance analysts found that thanks to the royal family, the tourism industry receives more than $ 700 million annually.

In other words, everyone benefits from royal generosity.

Royal family in numbers

Real estate

$4.7 billion - Buckingham Palace valuation by Luxent analysts. For comparison, Forbes estimates Richard Branson’s net worth at $4.1 billion.
$ 600 million - an estimate of the cost of Kensington Palace from Luxent, where Queen Victoria spent her childhood. For three centuries it has been the residence of young members of the royal family.
$18.7 billion - valuation of a portfolio of real estate held by Crown Property. Technically, the Queen owns the portfolio, but she does not have the right to sell objects from it.
$1.3 billion - valuation of the assets of the Duchy of Cornwall. The portfolio includes the Isles of Scilly, residential and commercial properties in London and Luynevermude in Wales.
$740 million - valuation of the assets of the Duchy of Lancaster. The portfolio includes 18,000 hectares of land in England and Wales, as well as the royal chapel of the Savoy Palace in London, built in 1512, limestone and sand pits and a gypsum mine

Business and Philanthropy

$ 428.2 million - the profit of the Crown Property in 2018, transferred not to the Queen, but to the UK Treasury.

$146.5 million - assets held by Prince Charles’ charitable foundations.

$46.7 million was the amount spent by the Prince Charles Foundation for charity in 2018.

$31.5 million - the value of Princess Diana’s estate at the time of her death. According to the will, most of the assets went to the sons of the deceased, Princes William and Harry. Each inherited their share on their 25th birthday. The remainder of the estate was divided among Diana’s 17 godchildren and former butler Paul Burrell, who received $81,000 worth of assets.

1762 - Number of onshore overwater wind turbines in Crown Property ownership.

Life style

200 billion - as many postage stamps produced with the image of Queen Elizabeth II. The 1967 drawing is considered the most replicated work of art in history.
$ 17.627 million - the amount that in 2006 at Christie’s auction brought jewelry and Faberge from the collection of Princess Margaret, sister of Elizabeth II. The lots included the unique Poltimore Diadem, created by Garrard for Lady Poltimore, wife of Queen Victoria’s treasurer. It was sold for $1.7 million.
$2.423 million was the amount for which an unused 1847 Blue Mauritius 2p stamp was sold in 1993. The same is kept in the Royal Philatelic Collection. The collection is legendary - no one undertakes to give it at least a rough estimate. The collection also includes, for example, one of the two surviving Bermuda stamps of postmaster W. B. Perot from 1854. The second went under the hammer in 1996 for $340,000.
$1.039 million - The auction price of a 1955 Rolls-Royce Phantom IV owned by the Queen and sold by Bonhams in September 2018. A year earlier, a 2001 Daimler Super V-8 commissioned by the Queen fetched $55,575, and in November 2016, a 1994 Audi Cabriolet, Princess Diana’s favorite car, went under the hammer at the Silverstone Classic Auto Show for $59,500.
$ 222,500 - for this amount in 1997, the navy blue velvet evening dress from Victor Edelstein, which Princess Diana wore to a Ronald Reagan-hosted White House government dinner, where she danced with John Travolta, was sold.
$25,277 Tuition for Prince George at Joanna and David Thomas School in the Battersea area for the 2019-2022 academic year, including textbooks and registration fees.
23,578 is the number of gems displayed as royal regalia in the Tower of London. The cross scepter, which has been used at every coronation since Charles II in 1661, is adorned with the Great Star of Africa, the world’s largest white diamond of the highest quality, weighing 530.2 carats.
$ 7,500 - for this amount at Julien’s auction in December 2014, a piece of cake from the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was sold. Four months earlier, a slice of a five-tiered fruit cake from the wedding ceremony of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer went under the hammer for $1,375. A year earlier, a festive dessert from the wedding of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip was sold, but only a modest $896 was earned for a piece of cake 2.7 meters high and weighing 226 kg.
$3,900 is the final price for a felt and velvet doll that belonged to Princess Elizabeth back in 1935 and sold in December 2018. The year before, a pair of Dean’s Rag Book Mickey and Minnie Mouse toys, a gift to Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret from Clara Knight’s nanny, fetched $1,164.
1306 is the number of Corgi dogs registered in the United Kingdom in 1944. Princess Elizabeth received a dog of this breed for her 18th birthday. Corgi registration rates then jumped by 56% and increased until 1960. The Queen’s influence on the dog world has been so strong that when Elizabeth’s last pet died in 2018, the British Kennel Union temporarily placed Corgis on its list of “threatened” breeds.
800 is the number of companies that have the status of a supplier to the royal court. They range from luxury brands like Burberry to family owned workshops like Abbey England, a horse saddle maker. A royal license is evidence that an organization provides goods or services to the royal family. According to Brand Finance, this status can bring the company up to 5% of the total income.