That she has to start selling off property doesn't bother me at all though it's of particular interest to see how deep this recession is hitting. She was burning through a lot of her cash reserves for years but had probably also assumed, like others, that the real estate boom could carry her through tough times. She's not hurting financially but it's certainly interesting to see how much more widespread the crisis has been. Just wait until the Conservative programs kick in and then it will really get ugly.
The Queen has been forced to sell one of her country estates, raising almost £1m in cash and heightening concerns over the scale of the financial crisis sweeping her investments and crumbling palaces.
Hadley Hall, a 16th-century listed farmhouse set in 50 acres of Cheshire countryside, was last night auctioned off by the Duchy of Lancaster; the Queen's national property portfolio which provides the monarch with a private income.
The royal sale comes on the eve of the publication of the Duchy's accounts which next week will reveal the extent of the damage done to her private wealth by combined effects of the recession and the credit crunch.
Separate accounts published by the Palace this month showed how the Queen's reserve of public cash, saved to pay her rising staff bills and fund her role as head of state, had fallen from £35m to £1m in the past 10 years, forcing her to go cap in hand to the Treasury for an increase to the Civil List.
