Her Majesty: A financial role model?

The Queen: savings give a reason to smile

By BBC News Online's personal finance reporter Sarah Toyne

The Queen may be one of the richest and most powerful women in the world, but she still has bills to meet and contractors to pay.

Her annual accounts - covering money received and spent in her official capacity - have been published for the first time.

They give a fascinating insight into the running and management of the biggest household in Britain.

Household expenses

£520,000:
Gas/Electricity bill

£135,000:
Water bill

£2.5m:
Kitchen & gallery

The Queen oversees the running of 360 individual properties covering 160,000 square metres - a far cry from a three bedroom semi in Ealing.

Her empire is so vast that she spends more than £500,000 on telephones - including line rental and call charges.

Water and sewage works

Keeping the royal palaces warm during the 12 months to 31 March this year is, despite all those trips to sunnier climates, also an enormous expense.

Ensuring a hot bath in a royal household cost £520,000 last year in gas and electricity bills.

Entertaining a few guests can prove costly

While the Queen is staying at Windsor Castle she has the use of her own 19th Century water and sewage works - a man is employed to oversee the day-to-day operation and maintenance costs.

Sanitation costs the Royal Household £135,000 a year.

Her faithful Yeomen of the Guard and Gentlemen at Arms, which attend her on about 30 state and official occasions each year, cost £83,000.

This includes the employment of part-time assistants to look after the uniforms.

Odd jobs

Some of the biggest expenses are those niggly odd jobs and the ongoing maintenance of the Royal palaces, as well as paying servants.

Maintenance at Buckingham Palace alone needs 33 staff, including 12 gardeners and 11 maintenance workers.

When the Queen wants to redecorate - no B&Q or MFI quick re-fit will do. She spent more than £2.5m on the redevelopment of the Queen's Gallery and kitchens at Buckingham Palace last year.

And when a chandelier needs rewiring, one cannot just call anyone.

Redecoration of the throne room at St James's Palace, which included an overhaul of the chandelier and conservation of the throne canopy cost a mere £157,000.

A role model?

You may or may not feel sympathy towards the Queen's budgeting dilemmas.

But, while most of us scrimp and save throughout our lives, at least we only have to worry about spending on average £360 a week.

We could even learn some lessons from the Queen's budgeting.

Although she has spent £35m this year, she has actually saved £3m compared to last. Is the Queen the new personal finance role model?

Obviously the Queen has more money to spend than most people can only dream of, but this saving proves that even with so many outgoings there is still room to tighten the belt

Anna Bowes
Chase de Vere

Well perhaps.

The biggest savings have come because she has started scrimping on her travel arrangements.

In royal circles, this means swapping the odd RAF or private jet for a scheduled flight.

Independent financial advisers say that we might learn a lesson from the Queen.

Anna Bowes of Chase de Vere, an independent financial adviser says: "Obviously the Queen has more money to spend than most people can only dream of, but this saving proves that even with so many outgoings there is still room to tighten the belt."

Another way of saving may be simply to take more British holidays instead of going abroad - a lack of official long distance overseas tours meant there was no reason to hire costly long-haul jets.