How Much Does The Royal Family Cost Each Member Of The Commonwealth

Monarchy's Private Income

Britain's treasury supports the official public costs of the royal household from the Sovereign Grant. This money mostly goes towards the maintenance of royal residences and castles, state visits, as well as royal travel, staff, official entertainment, and public engagements. The Queen also has her private income to draw upon for her considerable private expenses. This is mostly derived from the Duchy of Lancaster, her private trust holdings dating back 750 years. The Crown Prince has his even more valuable Duchy of Cornwall (the largest landholder in the United Kingdom) as well. The Queen also benefits from an annuity set by Parliament and an income from her private investments.

Regarding the Queen's private income derived from her considerable investment portfolio, consider the various estimates from Bloomberg and the Sunday Times. For 2015, Bloomberg Billionaires Index listed her at 425 million dollars. The Sunday Times Rich List in 2015 came up with an estimate of 460 million dollars. In 2012, the Queen received the singular honor of being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the richest queen in history. This was still only good enough for her to be the 302nd wealthiest individual living in the U.K. in 2015.