How The Queen amassed her $657 million fortune

The Queen’s wealth has long been shrouded in mystery before her death today. Now, all eyes are on how it will be divided up.

As the royal family mourns the death of Queen Elizabeth II, many have begun to wonder how the longest-serving immense wealth will be divided up among her relatives.

Despite an estimated personal net worth of $657 million in 2022, comprising assets, the Sovereign Grant and her personal income, according to Forbes, the Queen and her family’s personal bank balances have long been shrouded in mystery.

Estimates surrounding the 96-year-old Queen’s wealth have varied significantly over the years, with The Sun reporting in 2019 that her total net worth was actually $3 billion.

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Queen Elizabeth II’s total net worth was said to be $3 billion in 2019. Picture: WireImage

A book published in 2019 by British politician and member of the Privy Council, Norman Baker, highlighted just how little is known about how the royal family achieved, and maintain, their vast personal wealth.

The Queen left behind several assets including personal investments “in British blue chip shares,” an expansive art collection with a number of pieces left by her late husband Prince Philip, hundreds of millions worth of historic jewellery and personally-owned real estate including Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle.

So how much is “The Firm” worth?

According to Forbes, Monarchy PLC, or “The Firm”, an informal title for the British royal family and its associated institutions, holds nearly $38 billion in total.

Its assets include The Crown Estate, which holds $26.6 billion, Buckingham Palace, worth an estimated $6.7 billion, the Duchy of Cornwall holds $1.7 billion, the Duchy of Lancaster, approximately $1 billion, Kensington Palace, with an estimated worth of $861 million, and the Crown Estate Scotland which holds $809 million.

So how did the Queen make money?

In 2019, it was reported vast tracts of the UK seabed owned by The Crown Estate were being auctioned off to create the world’s biggest wind power development. This meant the Queen and Co. were set to reap a huge windfall, and by 2030, were poised to make up to $150 million each year from this project alone, The Guardian reported.

Reports also suggest the Queen also holds an investment portfolio worth up to about $952 million. In addition, she is said to have had one of the world’s greatest stamp collections, valued at $190 million.

The Queen’s stamp collection alone is worth $190 million. Picture: Getty Images

Then there is the property — Balmoral and Sandringham — which were owned by the Windsor family as opposed to the Crown. Those two properties alone are worth about $389 million.

The Duchy of Lancaster is also owned by the sovereign, which includes some of London’s most valuable real estate including castles and land across the country. As of 2019, the Queen was raking in about $38 million in money from the Duchy, which was not required to be used to fund official travel or for upkeep on Crown properties (such as Buckingham Palace).

The Queen’s inheritance

The Queen Mother left an estimated $126 million fortune to the Queen, including many significant works of art. Although according to the BBC, Her Majesty decided the most important pieces left by her mother would be transferred to the Royal Collection, where they would be “held in trust for the nation.”

A large part of the Queen Mother’s fortune was given to her in the form of the “Greville Inheritance”, a vast jewellery collection owned by Margaret Greville in 1942. When the wealthy socialite passed away, a black tin box was given to the Queen Mother containing jewellery. According to the National Trust, to this day, no one publicly knows how much jewellery was in that black box.

However, we do know the haul included a necklace that belonged to Marie Antoinette and the enormous Greville tiara that the Duchess of Cornwall regularly wears. The Duchess of Cambridge has worn the Greville ruby and diamond necklace.

Prince Philip is said to have left an estate worth about $18 million to his wife of 73 years, including a collection of paintings by Edward Seago as well as 3000 books.

Prince Philip died in April 2021. Picture: Getty Images.

The truth about her private empire

Back in February 2021, The Guardian reported that the monarch’s private lawyer had successfully lobbied the government to change a draft law to conceal her private wealth.

The newspaper said a clause had been included in the law in the 1970s granting the power to exempt companies used by “heads of state” from new transparency measures.

But a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace rejected suggestions that the Queen had intervened, The Sun reports.

She said: “Queen’s Consent is a parliamentary process, with the role of sovereign purely formal.

“Consent is always granted by the monarch where requested by government. Any assertion that the sovereign has blocked legislation is simply incorrect.

“Whether Queen’s Consent is required is decided by Parliament, independently from the Royal Household, in matters that would affect Crown interests, including personal property and personal interests of the monarch.

“If consent is required, draft legislation is, by convention, put to the sovereign to grant solely on advice of ministers and as a matter of public record.”

Where there’s a will, there’s a way to keep it secret

The truth is, we will never know exactly how the Queen’s wealth will be divided.

For centuries, all wills in the UK have been open for inspection — except for royal wills, which are kept secret, locked in a metal safe in an iron cage in Somerset House.

Perhaps the royals don’t want the public to know just how fabulously wealthy they all are — and the extent to which they avoid paying taxes on their estates, albeit legally.

– with The Sun