Has Queen Elizabeth II spent her entire net worth on renovations?
The Queen of England, Elizabeth II, is easily one of the richest people in all of Great Britain. Ruling over the UK, Bermuda, Turks & Caicos, and several other islands, she has plenty of coin from taxpayers to spend. The Times reported Queen Elizabeth II’s 2020 net worth as 350 million pounds, which translates to $451 million dollars.
But many are worried Queen Elizabeth has blown her entire net worth on a pricy renovation of Buckingham Palace. Headlines have reported her planned renovations would cost $479 million, with the Queen paying an average of $47.9 million a year for the next ten years.
Sprucing up the Royal Palace
According to Architectural Digest, an official job listing from Buckingham Palace is looking for a planner with experience renovating historical structures. The renovations are meant “to overhaul its infrastructure – including electrical cabling, plumbing and heating – for the first time since the 1950’s.”
Also in the listing, it states whoever is hired for this project would be assisting with it for the next ten years. Going one wing at a time to avoid affecting any events, the renovations would affect all 779 rooms of Buckingham Palace.
A price to pay
With such a grand renovation occurring in the palace, it’s no surprise the cost is going to be hefty. Reports estimate the renovation will cost $479 million when all is said and done, meaning Queen Elizabeth will be spending around $47.9 million a year. This is in addition to the upkeep costs of the Scottish Castle Balmoral, which experts estimate cost $4 million a year.
However, Queen Elizabeth doesn’t have to fork over all of her net worth to fund the Palace renovations. The Sovereign Grant given to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip is to help offset the costs of living in the Palace. Worth 82.2 million pounds, or $104 million dollars, part of that money is being set aside to help with the cost of the renovation.
It’s clear this renovation will set the Queen back quite a bit of money. But will it bankrupt the Royal Family?
Not-so-basic math
Looking at the numbers reported on by The Times, this pricy renovation will set back Queen Elizabeth II’s net worth by at least $100 million. But the issue is Queen Elizabeth II’s net worth is a mystery.
While The Times reports her net worth at 350 million pounds, Forbes has her somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion when accounting for the Crown Jewels and other wealthy objects. On top of all this, having a broke queen will make the UK the laughing stock of the world, so it’s unlikely they would ever let her net worth drop.
While it looks point-blank to begin with, the question of the Queen’s net worth is far from simple. The price of the Buckingham Palace renovations are set in stone, but only time will tell how much it costs the Royal Family to fund them.
