Wealth and Property of Queen Elizabeth II: After his mother’s death on Thursday, Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, became the monarch of the United Kingdom. The 96-year-old monarch, who had been queen for 70 years, passed away on February 6, 2016.
When her health began to decline, members of the royal family went to her side at Balmoral Castle, her vacation retreat in Scotland, where she passed away shortly after, as reported by Buckingham Palace. Also After 70 Years on the Throne, Queen Elizabeth II Passes Away at the Age of 96 | Official Statement from the Royal Family.
It has been alleged that Queen Elizabeth II had amassed “almost $500 million in personal assets” throughout her 70 years on the throne. After Charles is anointed king, he will not only inherit the throne, but also the private riches of her Majesty.
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Queen Elizabeth Ii’s Net Worth and Personal Assets
Since some of the Queen’s assets are privately held and some are part of the Crown Estate, which is not directly managed by the monarch, it is difficult to determine the exact size of the queen’s wealth. Despite this, in 2017, The Sunday Times Rich List estimated Queen Elizabeth’s fortune at 360 million pounds ($472 million) based on an analysis of her private holdings, stock portfolio, money inherited from her late mother, and income from the Crown Estate, of which a portion is used to generate revenue for her expenses.
Because she does not have authority over the Crown Estate’s investments, their growing value—which is in the billions—is not taken into account in this calculation.
Business Insider estimates that the Queen has “personal assets” of over $500 million, thanks to her investments, art collection, jewels, and real estate holdings (which include Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle).
Concerns about the monarchy’s costs and allegations of the queen’s fortune fueled rising criticism of the institution in the early 1990s. In 1992, the queen became the first monarch to file income taxes since the 1930s after agreeing to cover the majority of her family’s living expenditures. In 1992, when Windsor Castle, the queen’s weekend palace, was devastated by fire, the public pushed back against spending millions of pounds to restore it.
However, she accepted the obligation to pay taxes on her earnings. She pledged to pay for 70% of the restoration costs herself, and she also made the historic decision to finally let visitors into Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Finances: Sovereign Grant
Sovereign Grant is tax money that is distributed to the Royal Family annually and is the primary source of income for Queen Elizabeth II. A Sovereign Grant is a form of public funding that is used to cover the expenses associated with Queen Elizabeth II’s official obligations.
According to a report by The Associated Press, the award amount of 86.3 million pounds in 2021-22 is based on a percentage of income from the Crown Estate, a massive collection of property across the UK. This works out to 1.29 GBP per inhabitant of the country.
The British royal family has multiple streams of revenue, one of which comes from the fees charged to visitors to the palaces. The Sovereign Grant is funded by allotting an initial 15% of Crown Estate income to the program. It has been stated by the Royal Family that the donation is reviewed every five years by the Royal Trustees (the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Keeper of the Privy Purse) and that the Keeper of the Privy Purse continues to create and publish annual financial records.
The “monarchy possesses roughly $28 billion in real estate assets as of 202121 that cannot be sold,” as reported by Fortune. That’s why we’ve got –
- Value of the Crown Estate: $19.5 Billion
- In Scotland, the Crown Estate is valued at $592 million.
- 4.9 billion dollars for Buckingham Palace
- Spending for the Duchy of Cornwall totaled $1.3 billion.
- Estimated $748 million for the Duchy of Lancaster
- $630,000,000 for Kensington Palace
Charles will only receive the assets that Queen Elizabeth II has specified for him, not her $28 billion empire that includes The Crown Estate, Buckingham Palace, The Crown Estate of Scotland, The Duchy of Cornwall, The Duchy of Lancaster, and Kensington Palace.