Queen Elizabeth’s Net Worth: How the Reigning Monarch Earns Millions Every Year

Queen Elizabeth is worth an estimated $530 million, and that's just her cut of the royal family's total fortune. This doesn't make her the richest woman in the world — or even in the UK — but it's safe to say with a bank account this large, Elizabeth is sitting pretty. This lady probably has never wanted for anything material in her life.

As the daughter of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth was royal from birth, and that means that she was born into a family that always had money. Growing up, she likely had the best of everything, and this kind of privileged upbringing undoubtedly helped bolster her fortune as an adult. It helped that Queen Elizabeth had an impressive job waiting for her, too!

Elizabeth's income comes from the Sovereign Grants, as does the income of all working royals, including Prince William and Kate Middleton. The grant pays for the Queen's expenses, and everything she has to pay for in a year — like the costs of keeping the palace running, and paying employees. Recently, this was increased to 25% of the monarchy's revenue, which brings the Queen's income to about $104 million annually — but let's not forget she has a lot of bills!

Though the Queen mainly resides in Buckingham Palace — which belongs to the monarchy, not to her personally — she does have a couple of real estate holdings that are her personal assets, and Sandringham Estate, where the royals spend Christmas every year, is one of them. The estate is valued at around $65 million, according to Forbes, which is a huge chunk of her overall net worth.

Another one of Elizabeth's real estate holdings is Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Originally purchased by Prince Albert as a gift for Queen Victoria, the castle is valued at around $140 million, and has remained a property rich in history — and rich in memories for Elizabeth and her family. The Queen usually spends her summers there and loves to host parties in the garden.

One of Elizabeth's sources of income is the Duchy of Lancaster, which makes it possible for the Queen to have her own private income. Here's how this estate is described, according to the duchy's website: 

"The rural estates consist of 18,481 hectares of land in England and Wales and comprise commercial, agricultural and residential properties, the majority of which are in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Lincolnshire. Additionally the Duchy has a significant commercial property portfolio largely in the Savoy precinct off the Strand in London, a portfolio of financial investments and a small urban residential portfolio."

The Queen makes about $26 million per year from the Duchy of Lancaster — money which came straight from the profits of the estates in the duchy's holdings. This also goes to paying Elizabeth's own expenses, though it doesn't belong to her, exactly. If for some reason, she wasn't Queen anymore, the income would transfer over to whoever is reigning in her place.

The Royal Collection technically belongs to the monarchy as well, but it's in Queen Elizabeth's hands as long as she reigns. The collection includes property, like Buckingham Palace, and Frogmore Cottage, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's former home base in the UK — as well as artwork, gifts, and different pieces belonging to the royals through the years.

The Crown Jewels will transfer to Prince Charles when he becomes king, but for now, these are also in Queen Elizabeth's possession. Their total worth is estimated to be as much as $6.5 billion, and includes a collection of crowns, swords, scepters, gems, and plenty of diamonds. (Fun fact: Some are on display for palace visitors to see.)

Queen Elizabeth is big into horse racing and races her own horses … and it's become lucrative for her. According to USA Today, she has made over $9 million over the past 30 years she's been engaged in her hobby, and impressively enough, she's won more than 450 races in that time — including the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

In 2017, a massive leak of financial documents gave us a better picture of where Elizabeth's income comes from, and some of that is in offshore funds that are being held in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, which would account for approximately $12 million of her money from the Duchy of Lancaster. 

Hopefully, these are solid investments!

… well, some of them.

Some of the Queen's assets aren't hers personally — like her collection of the Crown Jewels that belong to whoever happens to be reigning at the time. But for now, they belong to Queen Elizabeth, so we should probably count them among her property, especially since she's able to use them as she wants while she reigns.

Because the Queen is (obviously), part of the monarchy, and her life is funded by taxpayer money, the details of Queen Elizabeth's finances are available online. "Each year the Royal Household publishes a summary of Head of State expenditure, together with a full report on Royal public finances," says the royal family's official website.

One of the reasons the Queen's finances continue to grow? Apparently, she's not a big spender — at least, not according to what her former advisor, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, has said about her. "No one is tighter at spending than the Queen," he said, according to Evening Standard. 

"She grew up during the war. Very disciplined."

Something else that would save Elizabeth some cash? Not paying taxes. The royals are exempt, but Queen Elizabeth decided she wanted to contribute in the '90s.

"In 1992, The Queen volunteered to pay income tax and capital gains tax, and since 1993 her personal income has been taxable as for any other taxpayer," says the royal family's website. "The Queen has always been subject to Value Added Tax and pays local rates on a voluntary basis."