Elizabeth II was very wealthy, and her portfolio covered almost everything from art to jewelry, wind farms, horse racing, and more. Over the past few years, however, her ranking on the Sunday Times Rich List has declined — the royal family's ranking has slipped nearly 30 places since 2018.
Horses are the Queen's only major luxury
It was a rather expensive hobby, and at one stage she had about 20 thoroughbred horses, 3 stallions, and corresponding stables. Around 2021, it will cost around £600,000 a year to run it.
What property does the Queen own?
A large part of the Queen's earnings comes from Crown Estate, an independent commercial enterprise created under the Uk Parliament Act with a diverse portfolio of Uk architecture, coastline, seabed, forestry, agriculture and public lands. Revenue is around $400 million a year, including revenue from 263,000 acres of arable land and buildings in central London. Buckingham Palace is owned by the reigning monarch as part of the Royal Estate, but it is not the Queen's personal property.
Crown Properties also owns $14 billion worth of property in the UK. While Queen Elizabeth does not legally own all of the property, she does receive 15% of the revenue generated by crown properties, which is usually used to pay for Queen Elizabeth's activities, including garden parties, receptions and her travel expenses.
Some of the royal property the Queen personally owns: including the $140 million Balmoral Castle, where she spends her holidays every summer, and the $65 million Sandringham House, where she and her family typically spend Christmas.
What is the Queen's income and where does it come from?
Most of the Queen's income comes from a trust in the Royal Collection. These trusts include the Crown Jewels held by the Queen for the rest of the country and the Tower of London. While she doesn't fully own them, they make up her huge portfolio. But Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle are trusteeships. Some of the items in the Royal Collection do belong to the Queen, including the Royal Stamp Collection, which was started by King George V, as well as certain personal estates.
Queen Elizabeth also made money through horse racing. Over the years, her horse racing has won nearly $9.2 million in prize money and won 451 wins.
The queen owns the jewels in the crown "in the ownership of the crown", so ownership is passed from one monarch to another. The 140 works are estimated to be worth $4 billion.
How does the royal family make money?
The Queen receives a salary. Her income recently doubled to $97.2 million. Income from the Duchy of Lancaster, owned by the Queen, which has increased in recent years, is part of the current monarchy's portfolio of land administration, which is used to pay for "additional costs", such as funding other members of the royal family and purchasing items that do not belong to the Queen's official job.
She also received a raise as a result of the tax increase, which was used to cover all of Buckingham Palace's renovation costs. The money comes from government budget allocations, which are part of what taxpayers pay for her official duties, including the maintenance of all the palaces.
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is not cheap, although she is the queen, she is known for her frugality, heating with a 30 pound heater, and has been using the same nail polish worth 7.99 pounds for 30 years. As Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, the Queen's adviser, once said: "No one spends more money than the Queen." She grew up in the war and was very disciplined. ”