Is Queen Elizabeth II Too Luxurious?

Queen Elizabeth II’s family is known for creative ways in order to cut down on costs. From reusing clothes and accessories to shutting off all lights in order to save electricity, the Queen herself implements some very unique ways to save money. However, recent reports show that Her Majesty may not be as thrifty as can be seen, somehow showing a great disparity as to the amount of money they frivolously shelve out for pleasure and leisure.

Although the Queen has been known not to bring hard cash in her purse, she interestingly has an ATM in her 775-room Palace home. Aside from this oddity, she has a vast collection of priceless art and decoration, even holding a four-million dollar collection of stamps. This ludicrous display of wealth is of course to be expected from the royal family, given that the Queen herself has a net worth of about $660 million.

This was made blatantly evident recently, after the Queen hosted United States President Donald Trump for a state dinner at Buckingham Palace. The dinner’s menu included bottles of 1990 Chateau Rothschild-Lafite — the Queen’s favourite red wine, which sells for an average of $1,778 a bottle.

The luxurious splurge should not come as a surprise, especially after knowing the Queen’s love for bags. For over 50 years, she has accumulated over 200 Launer bags, with each piece costing about $2,845 upward — placing her handbag collection worth at least $569,000. This is of course besides her luxury vehicle selection featuring Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Range Rovers and Jaguars, which are valued at around $20 million.

A stark discrepancy can be seen on her spending, particularly after taking a look at the wages of the people working under her. Recently, the Palace opened a position for an Events Coordinator, which would average at a salary of $47,000. News in recent years also revealed that Palace ground workers were only paid $16 an hour, while cleaners would only be paid $15 an hour.

The disparity is quite shocking, given that care for the Palace and its constituents would amount to less than London’s living wage. Imagine working as a footman and knowing that a year’s salary is only worth a tenth of the Queen’s handbags.