The British monarch currently receives £11.9 million a year from the public purse to maintain and repair her homes which include Windsor Castle and St James's Palace.
But because of a pay freeze she can only carry out emergency repairs to the buildings and says she will need more money to stop the royal households from falling into disrepair. The current budget means that while a £3.5 million repair to the crumbling facade of Buckingham Palace had gone ahead, other key projects had been forced to be put on hold. (telegraph.co.uk)
Queen 12th in Forbes list of richest royals
With an estimated fortune of £349 million, the monarch has even slipped one position to 12th place in the chart compiled by the US magazine Forbes. But despite an expensive schedule of official foreign trips and a widely publicised maintenance backlog at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, the Queen's position in the ranks of the super-rich remains secure. (telegraph.co.uk)
Queen tried to use state poverty fund to heat Buckingham Palace
The Queen asked ministers for a poverty handout to help heat her palaces but was rebuffed because they feared it would be a public relations disaster, documents disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act reveal. Royal aides were told that the £60m worth of energy-saving grants were aimed at families on low incomes and if the money was given to Buckingham Palace instead of housing associations or hospitals it could lead to "adverse publicity" for the Queen and the Government. (independent.co.uk)