Queen Elizabeth is weirdly frugal – the millionaire British royal eats Kellogg's cornflakes out of Tupperware, recycles bedsheets, uses 40-watt light bulbs and wears US$10 nail polish
Worth US$500 million, the British head of state is an oddly frugal royal, setting an example for all: reminding staff to turn off lights, only using a few of the rooms at Buckingham Palace, saving wrapping paper, giving practical gifts, recycling bedsheets and living on a basic diet of fish and veg
Queen Elizabeth, whose estimated net worth totals about US$500 million, is known for being surprisingly disciplined and frugal when it comes to spending her fortune. Below are just a few of the many money-saving – and environmentally-friendly – habits she’s practised through the years:
Often called ‘very modest’ by staff, it has been said that most of the time Queen Elizabeth uses only 6 of the 775 rooms in her sprawling palace
The queen’s dressmaker revealed in Daily Mirror that she regularly occupies her bedroom; her private sitting room; her dressing room and bathroom; the Audience Room, which is where she meets with dignitaries; and the Empire Room, which functions as the waiting room.
Queen Elizabeth reuses her bedsheets – repurposing them as cushion covers – and also recycles ribbons and gift wrappers
In the same report, source Adam Helliker disclosed how the queen extends the lifespan of her bedsheets: “Her Majesty is continuing to get good use from the bedspreads she rescued from the former Royal Yacht Britannia when the ship was decommissioned in 1997.”
Reusing and recycling ever since she was young, biographer Kate Williams shared in Daily Express how the queen had always rescued wrapping paper and ribbons after Christmas, and she would “smooth them out to be saved”. Williams adds how she prefers that family members give each other practical gifts, such as a kettle or ironing board.