Planets biggest landowner Ms Saxe-Coburg Gotha gets £5m pay rise

[Zardoz]

Largest Landowner
"Queen Elizabeth II the largest landowner on Earth."
http://www.whoownstheworld.com/about-the-book/largest-landowner/

Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the United Kingdom and of 31 other states and territories, is the legal owner of about 6,600 million acres of land, one sixth of the earth's non ocean surface.

She is the only person on earth who owns whole countries, and who owns countries that are not her own domestic territory. This land ownership is separate from her role as head of state and is different from other monarchies where no such claim is made – Norway, Belgium, Denmark etc.

The value of her land holding. £17,600,000,000,000 (approx).

This makes her the richest individual on earth. However, there is no way easily to value her real estate. There is no current market in the land of entire countries. At a rough estimate of $5,000 an acre, and based on the sale of Alaska to the USA by the Tsar, and of Louisiana to the USA by France, the Queen's land holding is worth a notional $33,000,000,000,000 (Thirty three trillion dollars or about £17,600,000,000,000). Her holding is based on the laws of the countries she owns and her land title is valid in all the countries she owns. Her main holdings are Canada, the 2nd largest country on earth, with 2,467 million acres, Australia, the 7th largest country on earth with 1,900 million acres, the Papua New Guinea with114 million acres, New Zealand with 66 million acres and the UK with 60 million acres.

She is the world's largest landowner by a significant margin. The next largest landowner is the Russian state, with an overall ownership of 4,219 million acres, and a direct ownership comparable with the Queen's land holding of 2,447 million acres. The 3rd largest landowner is the Chinese state, which claims all of Chinese land, about 2,365 million acres. The 4th largest landowner on earth is the Federal Government of the United States, which owns about one third of the land of the USA, 760 million acres. The fifth largest landowner on earth is the King of Saudi Arabia with 553 million acres
Largest five personal landowners on EarhQueen Elizabeth II	6,600 million acres
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia	553 million acres
King Bhumibol of Thailand	126 million acres
King Mohammed IV of Morocco	113 million acres
Sultan Quaboos of Oman	76 million acres


Queen gets £5m pay rise from taxpayer

Grant to cover household running costs rises to £36.1m – up from £31m in diamond jubilee year

Press Association Guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 April 2013 15.50 BST 
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/02/queen-gets-5m-payrise-taxpayer
 
The Queen's sovereign grant, which replaces the old civil list, has been set at £36.1m for 2013-14. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA

The Queen has received a £5m boost in the funds she receives from the taxpayer to carry out her official duties.

The sovereign grant, which covers the running costs of the Queen's household, has been set at £36.1m for the 2013-14 financial year.

The figure has increased from the £31m allocated during the previous 12 months which included £1m to cover the extra costs of the diamond jubilee.

The sovereign grant replaces the old funding system of the civil list and grants-in-aid and came into full effect at the start of the new financial year, which began on Monday. It also covers the maintenance of the royal palaces in England and the cost of royal travel for official engagements in the UK and overseas tours.

Under the new grant the Queen receives 15% of the profits from the Crown Estate, but from funds two years in arrears.

The Crown Estate's 2011-12 accounts revealed profits of £240.2m and the final figure for the grant was rounded up to £36.1m – very close to the estimated amount – by the royal trustees in December.

Royal accounts released last year showed the cost to the taxpayer of supporting the monarchy rose marginally during 2011-12. The Queen's official expenditure increased from £32.1m in 2010-11 to £32.3m in 2011-12.

Around £10m is spent on the salaries of the Queen's staff, from footmen to chefs in the royal kitchen – but wages have been frozen for a number of years. The figure for official expenditure does not include the cost of providing security and police protection for members of the monarchy.