LIZ DOES THE BIZ
THE Queen's wealth can be divided into her private wealth and her public wealth.
When it comes to her private wealth it includes Balmoral Estate in Scotland, which has a castle and 50,000 acres of woodlands, moors and lochs; and Sandringham Estate, with dozens of houses, 60 acres of gardens and 20,000 acres of forest. Her real estate is valued together at approximately £150 million as she owns land from Scotland to Hampshire. She also has a portfolio of private investments worth £520m. Her private income from the Duchy of Lancaster, a landed estate held in trust for the Sovereign since 1399, came to £5.70m before tax in the year to March 1998. She also has a jewellery collection worth £130m and an Art collection worth an estimated £1bn.
Her public wealth is also huge as she owns, through her official position as Queen, the Crown Estates worth £700m. The Crown estates owns 260,000 acres of land, of which 64,000 acres are common land in Wales, a quarter of all Crown lands in the UK. In return for the Civil List, the Crown surrenders to Government its hereditary revenues, mainly profits from the property-owning Crown Estate.
The Queen’s income comes from official costs (mainly salaries) which are borne by the Civil List, paid by the Government; this came to £8.9m for the Queen, the Queen Mother and Duke of Edinburgh in the last year. Of that, £7.9 million goes to the Queen, the Queen Mother got £643,000, and Prince Philip gets £359,000. The Queen provides £1.5 million for other Family members (see page 9).
Finally, there are Grants-in-aid from Parliament, to cover Royal travel and maintaining the palaces and the Privy Purse provides for her public and private use.
PALACES PAID FROM THE PUBLIC PURSE
Kensington Palace - where Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have a grace and favour apartment - is one of six properties that the Queen owns as sovereign and which are funded by the taxpayer to the tune of £15m a year.
Buckingham Palace - the Queen’s official London residence. The 17th century palace has 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 92 offices, 188 staff bedrooms, and is tended by 600 staff.
Lavishly furnished with some of the finest English and French furniture, it also has paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin and Canaletto, and sculptures by Canova and Chantrey.
Windsor Castle - a royal palace and fortress for more than 900 years. The Queen’s official residence, the main site where she is host to state visitors, contains 16 state apartments used for court ceremonial, state and official occasions. In addition, the castle has more than 1,000 rooms, tended by 350 staff, and paintings by Holbein, Rubens, Van Dyck and Lawrence.
Frogmore House - in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The 17th century mansion was once a country retreat for Queen Charlotte and was the birthplace of Earl Mountbatten. It now houses souvenirs of the royal family.
Palace of Holyroodhouse - founded as a monastery in 1128. The palace is now the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, where it is used for events including the annual garden party and the investiture.
St James Palace - built in the Tudor era. The palace is home to the Prince of Wales and Princes William and Harry, while Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, lived in Clarence House in its grounds.