Queen gets friendly advice on how to boost income at 'crumbling' Buckingham Palace

GlobalPost

Britain's royal household appears to have a case of champagne dreams on a beer budget.

A report published Tuesday outlined the finances of Queen Elizabeth II's household, revealing crumbling palaces and depleted coffers.

British lawmakers called on the queen to cut staff and open up Buckingham Palace to visitors more often in order to boost income.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee accused the household of overspending.

The report read: "However, we feel that The Queen has not been served well by the Household and by the Treasury, which is responsible for effective scrutiny of the Household’s financial planning and management."

Emergency cash reserves for the royal household hit a historic low of 1 million pounds ($1.6 million), while at least 39 percent of royal properties were deemed to be in an unacceptable state.

“The boiler in Buckingham Palace is 60 years old,” committee chair Margaret Hodge told the BBC. “The household must get a much firmer grip on how it plans to address its maintenance backlog.”

For royal afficionados: Do not despair, it's not the queen who is down to her last million pounds. She still has an estimated net worth of $500 million.

As for the royal household, Twitter had some very helpful suggestions on how to raise money. Of note were the 8 "ingenious" suggestions from British tabloid The Daily Mirror.

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