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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Zoe Forsey

How much money the Queen actually has - and where she gets it from

The Queen has a pretty impressive collection of palaces, castles and jewellery - so it's probably fair to assume she's never put her hand down the side of the sofa desperately hoping to find a few quid.

But how much is our Monarch actually worth?

Back in 2018, her Majesty ranked 344th on the Sunday Times Rich List.

Her incredible wealth is made up of property, jewels, horses and art.

According to Forbes, the Queen's personal net worth back in 2016 was a staggering £530million.

Her husband Prince Philip is thought to have a personal wealth of about £25million.

The following year, the Sunday Times calculated the value of the entire Royal Family - which they've estimated at $88billion, which is about £71billion.

The Queen has a LOT of cash (WireImage)

However working out the Queen's finances is far from simple, as there are many restrictions and technicalities on some of the things she has to her name.

Many of the things she owns, she owns as Sovereign on behalf of the nation rather than owning them personally.

For example, while she owns the Balmoral and Sandringham Estates personally having inherited them from her father, the official Royal residences - including Buckingham Palace - must be passed onto her successor.

The Queen personally owns the Scottish estate Balmoral (AFP via Getty Images)

This means Prince Charles will automatically own them, but again only as Sovereign, when the Queen dies.

The same rules apply to many of the art treasures in the Royal Collection and most famously, the Crown Jewels.

The Queen pays for her day-to-day life using three separate pots of cash - the Sovereign Grant, the Privy Purse and her personal money.

The Sovereign Grant is the money the Government gives the Queen every year to support her work.

The Queen wearing her very impressive crown (Corbis via Getty Images)

The Privy Purse is cash generated by the Duchy of Lancaster - a portfolio land, property and other assets of about 18,000 hectares in England and Wales.

It has existed since 1399 to provide an income for  the Sovereign  – who is also known as the Duke of Lancaster (yes, even though the Queen is a woman she is known as the Duke of Lancaster).

But the Queen can't do what she wants with the Duchy – it is managed and run for her – but she receives all the net profits, which is millions of pounds each year.

This is generally considered to be her private income – although republicans argue that it is money that would go to the Treasury if we didn't have a monarchy (no Sovereign = no Duchy) and so should be considered public funds.

The Queen voluntarily pays income tax on the profits.

She uses the money to pay for private and official expenditure – including meeting expenses of  members of the royal family  such as Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Princess Anne.

She also uses it for the upkeep of Balmoral Castle.

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