Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are on a mission to become “financially independent” from Queen Elizabeth. Although we already took a crash course on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s finances, we want to know: How much is Queen Elizabeth worth?
From real estate to tax exemptions, keep reading for all the details on Queen Elizabeth’s net worth.
The monarch has an estimated net worth of $530 million, according to Forbes. Cha-ching!
Yes. In fact, she relies on multiple streams of revenue. First, the queen gets an annual income from the Crown Estate (worth about $18 million). She also receives funds from the Duchy of Lancaster, which is a real estate trust. In 2018, it resulted in a $27 million paycheck for the monarch.
Lastly, 25 percent of Queen Elizabeth’s earnings comes from the Sovereign Grant, which is a lump sum of taxpayer dollars that is given to the monarch on an annual basis. Barely any of it ends up in the queen’s pocket, since it’s put toward other expenses, like payroll, travel and maintenance costs.
Up until the ’90s, Queen Elizabeth didn’t pay taxes on any of her earnings. Just let that sink in. “The sovereign is not legally liable for income, capital-gains or inheritance tax,” The Economist reports.
After the fire at Windsor Castle in 1992, the queen began paying taxes to compensate for some of the damages. (It’s her favorite residence.) According to BBC, she’s the first monarch to pay taxes since the ’30s.
Despite other tax exemptions, the queen reportedly makes “voluntary payments” to the U.K. tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs.
It’s important to point out that royal palaces (like Buckingham and Kensington) aren’t owned by Queen Elizabeth. Instead, they’re held in trust by the Crown Estate, so future generations of sovereigns can occupy the properties.
The queen does, however, privately possess two vacation homes. The first is Sandringham Estate, which is a $65 million country house. The second is Balmoral Castle, which is worth a reported $140 million, according to Fortune.
Oh, to be royal.
