The Queen of England has died at the age of 96 after a 70-year reign, but her legacy of scandals is expected to live on.
Pak Sahafat News Agency International Group, Queen Elizabeth II of England has died at Balmoral Castle at the age of 96, Buckingham Palace announced Thursday evening. After her, her eldest son, Prince Charles, will become the King of England at the age of 73.
As of July 2 this year, Elizabeth II has officially become the second longest reigning monarch in France after Louis XIV. Had she remained in power until May 2024, she would have held the title of longest-reigning.
Britain is one of the countries where the monarchy is hereditary. The monarchy of the United Kingdom, which is also called the British monarchy, is a type of constitutional monarchy and Queen Elizabeth II has been the head of government of this country since 1952. The British monarch and her first-class relatives hold various official, ceremonial, diplomatic and representative positions.
In this position, Queen Elizabeth had extensive powers, including deciding on the opening or closing of parliament sessions, dismissing and installing ministers, impeaching the prime minister, dismissing and installing ministers, issuing royal pardons, commanding the armed forces and declaring war.
She was also one of the richest people in the world, although she had acquired her property directly or indirectly from the citizens of her country or from some people of the world. A few months ago, Wall Street Journal reporter Max Colchester said about Elizabeth II’s wealth: “The queen has a lot of wealth that is kept for her. She also has his own personal investments held in his bank accounts. Of course, there is little information about them.”
In this regard, the Guardian newspaper reported last year that Queen Elizabeth had lobbied the British government and changed the text of the law that could disclose the amount of her assets. However, some international media have estimated that the Queen earned at least $20 million a year from her private real estate, while also receiving $100 million a year from the British government. Many estimates suggested that she has a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The queen’s income, of course, was provided by both her private and state assets. It is said that in the 1700s, the royal family left parts of their estates to the government. Since then, the government has paid a percentage of the profits from those assets to the monarchy every year; the amount paid to the queen under this title in 2021 was more than 107 million dollars.
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Of course, this type of government corruption does not have a good effect among public opinion. As during the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the reign of the Queen of England, the people of this country showed a wide negative reaction to the imposition of 31 million pounds on taxpayers. At that time, a survey showed that only 31% of young people between 18 and 24 years supported the continuation of the monarchy.
Back in 2014, when government spending cuts and tax hikes sparked mass protests on the streets of England, reports emerged that the royal family, amid austerity policies, spent more than £5 billion on the wedding of the Queen and her husband’s granddaughter. She spent money, and by the way, this was a cost that flowed directly from the collection of public taxes to the treasury of the British court and was estimated at 122 million pounds annually.
The death of the Queen of England will not mean the end of the troubles of the royal system for the people of this country. Prince Charles will take over the throne in a situation where he will be a notorious heir from the beginning due to the revelations that have been made about him.
Last month, The Times reported that Prince Charles, 73, had accepted a donation of more than £1m (£1.19m) in 2014 from the half-brothers of bin Laden, the former leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
This report stated that Prince Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, met with Bakr bin Laden, the owner of a Saudi company, at his royal residence “Clarence House” in London in October 2013. The receipt of the money came after several advisers urged Prince Charles not to accept the money, but he has not heeded the advice.
The moral corruption of Prince Charles has been one of the topics of attention in the British media for a long time. In the 1990s, an Australian magazine released an audio recording of Charles’ extramarital affairs with a woman named Camelia Parkes, reporting that he had an extramarital affair with her while he was married to Princess Diana.
Of course, the scandals of the royal family are not limited to Charles, and in the past years, the corruption of this family has always created many controversies. Just last year, the media reported that Prince Andrew served as the British Trade Representative from 2001 to 2011. But in the end, he resigned from his position due to severe criticism of some personal relationships. He was a close friend of American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Prince Andrew stepped down from royal duties altogether in 2019 after new allegations surfaced about his relationship with Epstein.
All of these revelations show that the Queen of England died today, but her legacy will probably weigh heavily on the people of this country for years to come, even when reports indicate the possibility of an economic recession in this country.