Is the Queen going broke?

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is apparently one royal who is no longer flush. According to The Daily Telegraph, a report by the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee has found that the Queen's financial reserves have reached a "historic low," dwindling to 1 million pounds ($1.66 million) from 35 million pounds ($58 million) in 2001.

The Queen down to her last million? To put that in perspective, it would be like the rest of us being down to our last thin dime, peso, euro... whatever.

The Committee's report has placed the blame squarely on the Queen's advisers for overspending in a manner out of line with the austerity measures that have been adopted by Prime Minister David Cameron's government. According to the Telegraph, the royal household only managed 5 percent efficiency savings over the past five years, while some British government departments have cut their budgets by up to 33 percent. In the 2012-13 fiscal year, the report found that the royal household received 31 million pounds ($51.4 million) in taxpayer funds, but spent 33.3 million ($55.2 million), dipping into the reserves in the process. Margaret Hodge, a Labour MP who chaired the committee, told Sky News that the financial mismanagement has resulted in two of the Queen's most famous residences falling into disrepair, with no contingency plant to pay for the backlog of repairs.

Should I feel bad for this feeling of Shadenfreude that comes over me when I hear news like this... should any of us?

Probably not

Source

Oh noes the poor thing, just a mill??? and is only like 87 she got at least 30 years more

Maybe she can search for a young lad to marry again that would solve their financial problems.

just a million pounds what a tragedy s/f for this heartbreaking news

Well...the Queen of England is pretty darn old. She probably isn't keeping tabs on how her money is spent. I've seen elderly people taken advantage of -- and it's a lot easier than you'd think. As elderly people's minds start to fade and get fuzzy, details about finances tend to get overlooked.

Doesn't the king/queen over there get paid by the British government anyway?

Oh well. There is no such thing as royalty anyways, the queen and her family are just another rich family that England likes to pay too much attention to.

I'm really curious to see what our U.K. brothers and sisters have to say about this. From an outside perspective, the whole Royal Family thing just seems like an antiquated "cult of personality"... but, I am not a Brit...

We have the same sort of "cult of personality" in this country, but it centers around celebrities (most behaving quite badly)... or so it seems...

reply to post by madmac5150


They may start arguing the new granddaughter in law is taking all her money away, you know start some chit chat about that...


weeeeee ill let myself out, we all love royalties everywhere

reply to post by madmac5150


I'm from the UK and it's no secret I don't like the notion of monarchy. It's an outdated institution that rewards a very average family. Any other family would be labelled scroungers by most Brits.

Most Brits love the royal family, so I keep my opinions to myself most of the time.

woodwardjnr
reply to post by madmac5150

 

I'm from the UK and it's no secret I don't like the notion of monarchy. It's an outdated institution that rewards a very average family. Any other family would be labelled scroungers by most Brits.

Most Brits love the royal family, so I keep my opinions to myself most of the time.

I am in Canada and I thought we divorced her in 1967 and we became a country at least that was the story, but that was not the case. Trudeau didn't divorce her and Canada is still a colony, if we were a country her damned picture wouldn't be in every bloody misgoverning institution, the courts, post office, etc. and we wouldn't have a prime minister (second in command) or a regal viceroy called the groveler general who is actually the head of Canada on behalf of the monarchy.

And yes, the monarchy is an antiquated institution filed with do-nothings and useless eaters. The funny thing is these inbreds hold themselves above everyone else and milk the system, whereas in a rational society they would be shunned and cast out for what they are, noxious parasites with no purpose. You can add the Rothschilds, politicians and international bankers to this lot of wankers as well.

Cheers - Dave

time to sell some of the thousands of trinkets they have stockpiled. all sorts of ancient artifacts, precious gems and other excessive tokens of opulence

ThinkYouSpeak
time to sell some of the thousands of trinkets they have stockpiled. all sorts of ancient artifacts, precious gems and other excessive tokens of opulence

Would the royals really auction off their possessions to raise any funds needed? I doubt it... probably just re-appropriate public funds to cover what they feel they need... that is the M.O. of the "Elite Class" after all.

reply to post by madmac5150


She shouldn't really need to sell any of her trinkets, she and the rest of the Firm, make enough with the duchy estates that they own and along with many other properties, 4 in London.

This news was "leaked" for a purpose. There is a reason for it.....

reply to post by madmac5150


Being down to the last million refers to what remains in " The Public Purse"
The Public Purse is what the British tax payer gives to run the Royal Household each year. When the new tax year starts in April the Public Purse will be topped up again.

The Queens own personal wealth is estimated to be anything between £450 million to £100 Billion. No one knows.

Really?Doesn't the Queen own a mass of prime Manhattan real Estate?If so she would be collecting Millions in rents annually.

alldaylong
reply to post by madmac5150

 

Being down to the last million refers to what remains in " The Public Purse"
The Public Purse is what the British tax payer gives to run the Royal Household each year. When the new tax year starts in April the Public Purse will be topped up again.

The Queens own personal wealth is estimated to be anything between £450 million to £100 Billion. No one knows.

Have you guys ever thought of closing those purse strings? Sounds like something that could possibly be done. Of course, in this country we don't call them the royal family... we call them the "First Family"... sounds like a different name for the same damned thing...

bigfatfurrytexan
This news was "leaked" for a purpose. There is a reason for it.....

Yeah... I'm guessing they want more money from the public to cover their extravagant lifestyles...

madmac5150

bigfatfurrytexan
This news was "leaked" for a purpose. There is a reason for it.....

Yeah... I'm guessing they want more money from the public to cover their extravagant lifestyles...

Each UK tax payer pays 53 pence per year ( i think that is less than 1 Dollar) to run the Royal Household.

I call that a bargain.

alldaylong

madmac5150

bigfatfurrytexan
This news was "leaked" for a purpose. There is a reason for it.....

Yeah... I'm guessing they want more money from the public to cover their extravagant lifestyles...

Each UK tax payer pays 53 pence per year ( i think that is less than 1 Dollar) to run the Royal Household.

I call that a bargain.

I'm sure that is what it looks like on paper... but how much other money has been swindled away by the banks and funneled to the royals? I wouldn't be at all surprised if Obama himself didn't get rich by "bailing out" those poor, bereft bankers...

The royal estates earn around a 170 million a year into the government coffers of which 60ish is spent on the royal family and that covers the maintenance of the palaces etc so they cover their costs and more so and when you add in the draw of the family so people can watch the trooping of the colour etc they're better value than across the pond where its probably a billion bucks every 4-5 years just to replace the previous idiot or just extend their reign

Maxatoria
The royal estates earn around a 170 million a year into the government coffers of which 60ish is spent on the royal family and that covers the maintenance of the palaces etc so they cover their costs and more so and when you add in the draw of the family so people can watch the trooping of the colour etc they're better value than across the pond where its probably a billion bucks every 4-5 years just to replace the previous idiot or just extend their reign

Very true

I am sure Obama's net worth (if truly investigated) was built upon Chicago politics; line your pockets at the expense of those you call constituents...

It is two sides of the same coin...