Despite talk of crumbling and chilly palaces and of Queen Elizabeth slipping down several "rich lists", Britain's monarchy will be wealthier than ever when she becomes its longest serving royal on the throne -- 63 years -- on Sept. 9.
A Reuters analysis of royal assets shows that the British monarchy has had a bumper few decades by benefiting from a rise in house and land prices.
According to a Reuters estimate based on the monarchy's interests in its key investment vehicle, royal estates and its trove of treasures, the British monarchy has nominal assets worth about 22.8 billion pounds ($34.8 billion).
The Sovereign Grant for 2015 was 37.9 million pounds, 22 percent more than two years before.
The Crown Estate's net profit growth was slow during the initial decades of the queen's reign - profits in fact declined by 19 percent between 1962 and 1982 in real terms - but it accelerated with the London property boom of the late 1980s.
Since the 2007 global financial crisis, the Crown Estate's property value has more than doubled to 11 billion pounds, increasing at an annualized rate of 9.3 percent at a time when the rest of the British house market, even in London, slowed.