QUEEN ELIZABETH’S WEALTH
April 18, 2012Most people have heard stories about the wealth of the Queen of England. Her personal fortune has been estimated to be in the billions if not the trillions. Recently, Forbes Magazine reported that it had done a comprehensive assessment of the Queen’s real wealth. And guess what? She doesn’t nearly qualify for the Forbes list of the wealthiest billionaires. In fact, the queen isn’t even a billionaire. Forbes estimates that her personal wealth is around 420 million dollars. This is a great deal of money, certainly, but she isn’t one of the wealthiest women in the world by any stretch of the imagination.
The confusion about the Queen’s net financial worth is aggravated by the fact that there is a blurring of lines when trying to discern what belongs to the Queen and what she holds in trust for the state. Many people who visit London make the trek to the Tower of London to see the crown jewels. It’s one of the most expensive and impressive jewelry collections in the world, but the Queen only holds it in trust for the nation. She is not allowed to sell or in any way decimate this legendary jewelry collection. Much of her art collection, worth an estimated ten billion dollars, is also held in trust for the state. Ditto for many of her palaces like Buckingham Palace.
It’s part of the public record that the Queen does own the Estate of Balmoral with its fifty thousand acres of woodland. She also owns Sandringham Estate outright. The estate encompasses twenty thousand acres of forestland and several houses. The total estate is valued at 150 million dollars. The Queen also owns a private art collection, antique furniture, jewels and horses valued at 110 million dollars. A savvy investor, the Queen has numerous stocks and bonds that she either bought or inherited.
Queen Elizabeth’s wealth can be compared to that of her fellow royal monarch, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Forbes Magazine estimates her value at 3.2 billion dollars. Much of Queen Beatrix’s wealth is due to the fact that the Dutch royal family still retains an interest in the Royal Dutch/Shell Group. Even one of the Queen’s female subjects, newly minted billionaire J.K. Rowling, is worth more than the Queen of England!
