Even though most of what happens to the royal family happens in the public eye, there are some things that remain private such as wills.

So what will happen to the Queen’s wealth now that she’s died is a matter of secrecy and much speculation.

A 2021 Forbes estimate put the late Queen’s personal wealth at around $500M, which include her jewels, art, investments and homes (Balmoral and Sandringham, both bequeathed to her by her father King George VI).

The most of the throne’s estimated $21B in land, property and investments, will go straight to the new monarch – King Charles III, and his heir, Prince William. The King, like all monarchs before him after 1760, hands over the profits from his estates to the British government and receives a portion in return, known as the Sovereign Grant.

While we don’t know the specifics of what the Queen may have left to each individual family member upon her death, we do now that he now inherits the Duchy of Cornall and its estates from his father. The estate includes around 140K acres and is worth just over $1.2B.

Revenue from the estate is supposedly used to “fund the public, private and charitable activities” of the Duke of Cornall, now Prince William, but of course that depends on just how active he chooses to be.

There are some protections put in place for British taxpayers; the King can only spend the Sovereign Grant on royal duties and all royals are limited in how much they can personally benefit from their bequeathed fortunes.

Nonetheless, in an age of record inflation and economic woes the world over, hearing of massive sums of money being passed blithely from Queen to son, and so on, is disheartening at best.