BRITAIN: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, reputedly one of the world's richest women, faces a cashflow crisis and may have to beg parliament for more money, according to reports in the British press.
Although she is far from broke, the British monarch may not have enough ready cash in her private accounts to pay her bills, according to a report in the London Independent.
The report comes as Britain prepares for a weekend of celebrations marking the golden jubilee of her coronation.
The Independent put publicly available details of her wealth and assets to the scrutiny of analysts and concluded that, in accountancy parlance, she is approaching "a net worth of nil".
However, the report admits that it is impossible to judge exactly how much the queen is worth as Buckingham Palace is secretive about its finances. "It's all speculation," a Buckingham Palace spokesman said. "In terms of her private finances we do not comment."
Estimates of her wealth vary enormously, from a few hundred million pounds to more than £1 billion, depending on what is taken into account.
This year's Sunday Times rich list put her personal fortune at £275 million (€440 million), while Eurobusiness magazine estimated it at up to £1.3 billion.
But it is unclear which assets - such as property, jewellery, artworks - she owns and what is held by the state or simply because of her position as head of state. She cannot, for instance, simply sell Buckingham Palace or pawn the crown jewels.
According to the report, there has been a dramatic drop in profits from the royal palaces and a cut in state funding.
Her estate at Sandringham is in the red because of the impact of last year's foot-and-mouth crisis, while her share portfolio had been reduced by £12 million due to the global economic downturn.
Meanwhile, up to six million workers stand to lose out during an extended holiday to mark the golden jubilee, trade unionists said yesterday. Two bank holidays have been strung together to make a four-day weekend.