Queen
Elizabeth II of England has reigned for 59 years and has an estimated net worth
of $450 million dollars. Queen Elizabeth II reigns over the 16 nations that
make up the Commonwealth of Realms including he United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New
Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. She is also
the head of the Church of England.
The
Queen's personal fortune has been the subject of speculation for many years.
Sometimes estimated at US$10 billion, recently Forbes magazine conservatively
estimated her fortune at around US$500 million (£280 million).[25] This figure
seems to agree with official Palace statements that called reports of the
Queen's supposed multibillion-dollar wealth "grossly
over-exaggerated;" however, it conflicts with a total addition of the
Queen's personal holdings. Her personal art collection is worth at least £10
billion, but is held in trust for the nation, and cannot be sold.
The
Queen also owns large amounts of property privately that have never been
valued, including Sandringham House, Balmoral Castle — reputedly worth £160
million — and the Castle of Mey. Press reports upon the death of the Queen
Mother, the previous owner of the Castle of Mey, speculated that by the Queen's
inheritance, £28 million of death duties were avoided on an estate worth £70
million.[26] Furthermore there is control and ownership of the Duchy of
Lancaster, which is valued at £310 million and transferred a private income to
the Monarch of £9.811 million in 2006.
The
Queen also technically owns the Crown Estate with holdings of £6 billion;
however, the income of this is transferred to the Treasury in return for the
civil list payments, and the legal effects of the Monarch reclaiming it and
giving up civil list payments in exchange are unknown. In total today Her
Majesty's personal Estate has a estimate of 6 billion as 2006 and a net-worth
of 20 billion.
PERSONALITY
Queen
Elizabeth II has never given a press interview. Her views on political issues
are therefore largely unknown except to those few heads of government in her
confidence. Conservative in dress, she is well known for her solid-colour
overcoats and matching hats which allow her to be seen easily in a crowd. She
attends many cultural events as part of her public role. Her main leisure interests
include horse racing, photography, and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh
Corgis
In
matters of diplomacy, Elizabeth is formal, and royal protocol is generally very
strict. Though some of the traditional rules for dealing with the Monarch have
been relaxed during her reign (bowing is no longer required, for example,
although it is still frequently performed), other forms of close personal
interaction, such as touching, are discouraged by officials. At least five
people are known to have broken this rule, the first being Alice Frazier who
hugged the Queen in 1991 during her 13-day United States visit, when Elizabeth,
accompanied by Barbara Bush and Jack Kemp, visited a government housing project
in Washington
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