I’m sure young Archie will have it tough one day, as the public scrutinise his every move and the paparazzi try and catch him unawares, but he’ll never go hungry.

Putting aside the wealth that Meghan Markle brought along for the ride, Archie’s great-granny has more than enough to go round.

Sure, she doesn’t feature anywhere amongst the 2 153 billionaires on Forbes’ list, but she can boast a personal fortune estimated to be around $500 million (R7,13 billion).

That means Mark Shuttleworth and seven other South Africans are worth more, but here’s Forbes with how they reached that half a billion figure:

The 93-year-old directly owns some assets like Balmoral Castle in Scotland [below] and Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, but many of her most valuable assets like Buckingham Palace are owned by a body called the Crown Estate.

If she were to possess the Crown Estate—which includes a myriad of properties in the U.K. and is owned by neither the government nor the royal family—as well as the Duchy of Lancaster (a private trust governed by the same ownership rules), Forbes estimates that the Queen would be the richest person in the U.K. (and the third-wealthiest woman in the world) with a net worth of more than $25 billion. And even that number doesn’t take into account the value of the Royal Collection Trust, which, with its Fabergé eggs and Rembrandt paintings, could be worth in excess of a billion dollars.

Tough life.

Believe it or not, Elizabeth does actually ‘earn’ a living:

The Queen derives an annual income from the properties held by the $18 billion Crown Estate and the Duchy of Lancaster, a real estate trust dating back to 1265, that paid her $27 million (pretax) in fiscal year 2018 for personal expenses. The Sovereign Grant, which equals 25% of the income from the Crown Estate, goes toward the Queen’s official expenses, which include payroll, travel, housekeeping, maintenance costs and even IT expenses.

Can’t be easy teaching a 93-year-old how to run an Instagram account – just keep the log-in details away from Prince Philip.

I wouldn’t mind watching the monarchy tumble, because I think it’s a ridiculous and outdated concept, but it seems to be good for Brand Britain:

Despite the endless fascination with the royals around the world, there is a faction in the U.K. who believe the family is a burden on taxpayers. That’s not necessarily the case, however, according to Richard Haigh, the managing director of Brand Finance, a U.K.-based valuation company. “Last year, we valued the boost to the U.K. economy from Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding in Windsor at almost $1.5 billion,” Haigh told Forbes.

And in its latest report on the monarchy from 2017, Brand Finance estimated that the family is responsible for more than $700 million in annual tourism.

I suppose one might call that paying your own way.

[source:forbes]