In an unprecedented act of royal generosity, the Queen is to mark her Diamond Jubilee by selling her extensive range of palaces and other properties and donating the proceeds to the Jubilee Debt Campaign. Experts estimate that the sale will raise upwards of £100M for the anti-poverty group.
“One’s been pretty lucky, all things considered,” an aide quotes Her Majesty as saying. “When one has had the breaks one’s had, at the end of the day it’s nice to give something back.” Once the sale of the properties has been completed, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are expected to move into a one-bedroom apartment in Prince Charles’ model village of Poundbury in Dorset. This will be part of a specially commissioned block built to the Prince’s traditional architectural principles, with the remaining apartments occupied by the rest of Her Majesty’s extended family who will be downsizing in similar fashion.
“Once I’ve just got the flat it’ll be lovely to have the family all around me and not wondering whether I’m “in residence” or not ,” the Queen is quoted as quipping.
