An article published last week by Business Insider said her net worth, according to a 2016 estimate by The Sunday Times, “is far greater than any other member of the royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who they have a combined fortune of $30 million.”

		Read more: History of Balmoral: The castle where Queen Elizabeth II spent her last days 		
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			History of Balmoral: The castle where Queen Elizabeth II spent her last days

However, the assets held by the Queen technically belong to the ‘Royal company’, also known as ‘Monarchy PLC’, and the sovereign does not have the right to sell any of them, including the palaces, to make a profit, as pointed out by Business Insider. Story continues below ad According to Forbes, the Crown, through the “Company”, owns nearly $28 billion in assets. These assets include the following: the Crown estate, valued at $19.5 billion; Buckingham Palace, worth about $4.9 billion. the Duchy of Cornwall, worth $1.3 billion; the Duchy of Lancaster, worth $748 million; Kensington Palace, worth $630 million; and the Crown Estate of Scotland, valued at $592 million (all in US dollars). Here’s a breakdown of the Queen’s assets during her 70-year reign, which also served as a source of income for her and the royal household. King Charles III is now the owner of the Crown Estate, which is a company that manages a collection of properties and lands owned by the sovereign, according to the UK government’s website. “The business generates valuable revenue for the government and over the past 10 years has contributed £2.6 billion,” the government says. Story continues below ad However, the King is not involved in the management of the estate, according to The Crown Estate website. “It is not the monarch’s private property – it cannot be sold by the monarch, nor does the proceeds of it belong to the monarch,” he says. Rather, the saleability and proceeds belong to the Crown Estate. 4:25 Death of Queen Elizabeth: Mourners line streets as coffin travels from Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh Death of Queen Elizabeth: Mourners line streets as coffin travels from Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh The Crown Estate’s portfolio “is worth more than £7.3 billion, from beef farms in northern Scotland to stone quarrying in Portland in Dorset,” according to the royal family’s website. When it comes to official duties such as public outings and events, the Royal Family is funded by what is known as the Sovereign Grant. The Sovereign Grant is supported by the government and covers the costs of royal travel, communications and information and the maintenance of all royal palaces, according to the website. Story continues below ad A percentage of Crown Estate revenue profits go to the Sovereign Grant. Trending Stories

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			Privy Purse and Duchy of Lancaster

The royals have private sources of income apart from the government grant. The Duchy of Lancaster is one such source, which belongs to the sovereign. The Duchy of Lancaster contributes to the Queen’s—now the King’s—private income and is used to pay for expenses not covered by the Sovereign Grant, including both the official and private expenses of the monarch. According to the Royal Family website, the ‘Privy Purse’ “is a historical term used to describe income from the Duchy of Lancaster”. READ MORE: Death of Queen Elizabeth – What’s next for Canada’s 10 days of mourning The Duchy of Lancaster is a portfolio of land, property and assets owned by the sovereign Duke of Lancaster since 1399, according to the Duchy of Lancaster website. Story continues below ad Not to be confused with the Duchy of Cornwall, which provides an income to the heir to the throne, the Prince of Wales — now William. “While the two Duchies have similarities, the administration and control of the Duchy of Cornwall is entirely separate from that of the Duchy of Lancaster,” the duchy’s website states. 4:39Camilla: From outcast to Queen Consort Camilla: From outcast to Queen Consort According to Business Insider, “Lancaster’s estate brought in £24 million (about US$28 million) last year, according to its financial records, and the King is now entitled to his income.” “He had assets worth more than £650 million ($754 million) at the end of March this year, the duchy’s website said. A law passed in 1702 prohibits the monarch from selling any of the assets,” the report added. Story continues below ad In 1993, the Queen opted to pay income and capital gains tax on estates, and according to Business Insider, “Charles may decide to follow suit.” In addition to the Queen’s Privy Purse, Elizabeth II also held the Balmoral and Sandringham estates, which were passed down to her from her father. What the queen did not own, however, are the official royal residences, most of the art in the Royal Collection and the crown jewels, the Royal Family website points out. These expensive items cannot be sold and are to be passed on to her successor. The Royal Family website describes that funding sources, whether public or private, “are used entirely to support the work of the Queen (now the King) as head of state”. “This means the money goes to a range of resources that enable Her (His) Majesty to carry out her official duties,” it added. Story continues below ad These include royal trips for official engagements in the UK and abroad. the maintenance of the royal residences and the salaries for the servants of the Royal Household, in addition to those provided by the State grant. Charles as King will now inherit his mother’s assets and receive them tax-free, but it is not known what the other royals will inherit from the Queen. If her other children and family inherit anything, they will be subject to the UK’s 40 percent inheritance tax, according to Willful, a Canadian company that provides an online estate planning service. “The rest of the content of her will is likely to remain secret – especially after Prince Philip dies in 2021 and his will is sealed for 90 years,” the company said in an email to Global News. According to Stewarts, a British law firm, “Royal wills have a long history of privacy, dating back to 1822.” “In 1910, the court considered the position of members of the extended royal family, ruling that the will of Prince Francis of Teck, brother of Queen Mary (husband of King George V), was ‘sealed’ and its contents kept secret by the general public,” the company said in a blog post. “Since then, this practice has become the norm for senior members of the royal family and more than 30 wills have been similarly sealed,” the company added. Story continues below ad -With files from The Associated Press and Laura Hensley of Global News. © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.