The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-06
QUEEN VICTORIA'S MILLIONS.
She Is Said to Be the Worlds Richest
Woman.
Boston Herald.


Queen Victoria would undoubtedly be the
richest woman in the world even If she
should lose her throne and all her official
revenues. She was. born in poverty. Her
father was compelled to borrow money
from an alderman of the city of London
whom he was fortunate enough to meet in
that city to London few weeks before
her birth, and until his death was a PEN
sioner not of Parliament, but upon the
bounty of the King.
Victoria herself occupied that notifying
relation until she became Queen of England
and when she was called to the throne
erty in her own right, says correspondent
in the Chicago Record Nevertheless. her
wealth is now estimated by the hundreds
of millions of dollars. Like the Duke of
Edinburgh she never spends cent OF her
personal income. but allows ", 1T IT TO accn Gu
munerative kind of property.
She has twelve palaces. Two OF them-Bal-
moral in Scotland, and Osborne on the
Isle of Wight-are her personal property
and she occupies them more than any of
the official palaces. Buckingham Palace, in
London, is always kept ready for her use,
and she goes there to preside at Official
functions, but has prejudice against the
place, and has not spent night under its
roof for many years. she lives at Wind
SOr most of the time during the sessions
of Parliament
There are seven or eight other palaces
maintained at public expense and occu-
pied by her sons, daughters and other rel
atives and pensioners. AT Hampton court
the largest and most beautiful of all the
British palaces %nlen was hy 9 Henry VIII
and the scene of the gayeSt events III the
lives of Charles l and Charles IL, there
are forty-five families living on the royal
bounty mostly retired clergymen and mill
tarv veterans and the widows and orphans
of similar public servants. me palaces at
Kensington, Kew and Richmond are also
filled with pensioners, and it costs $1S0OOO
wear to maintain them.
her Majesty has train or railway cars
[
costs the government several hundred DOL
lars every time she travels between wind
sor and London, q distance or twenty-Iour
miles There are four royal yachtS--the VIC
toria and Albert 2470 tons; the Osborne,
1850 tons; the Alberta, $40 tons and the
Elfn 1913 tonS-which she seldom uses, but
II cost $1,000 last year to maintain them.
There are also twenty-five state car
riages and 200 horses and ponies kept for
the use of her Majesty and her household,
with large number and great variety OF
road carriages and other vehicles. The
Queen uses an ordinary basket phaeton,
drawn by couple of gentle ponies, when
she rides for air and exercise in the parks
that surround her castles at Windsor, in
Scotland and on the Isle of Wight. Some
times she uses a victoria When she goes
to London she Invariably rides in a plain
landau, painted dark brown, with red lines.
In her stable are ten matchless cream
colored stations and ten splendid blacks,
which are reserved for ceremonial occa-
sions, and never haul anybody less than
a king or queen.
woman of very economic habits her Majes-
ty is very expensive luxury for her tax
payers, but not more so than some OF the
other rulers of Europe. The President of
the United States receives less pay in COM
parison with the Importance of his Office
than any other man in the world. The pres
ident of France receives a salary of 100000
francs. which is equivalent to $125.OO0, and
a similar amount for expenses of his house.
hold. The Emperor of Austria has an al
lowance of So S75. 600; the King of Sweden
and Norway. $5750o0; King Leopold of Bel
GUM, $500 O00; the Queen of Holland. $780,
600: the King of Greece. $260000; the King
of Italy 81 eco. The Emperor of Russia
being an autocrat, can do what he pleases
with the revenues OF the empire but the
expenses of the court are about $9000,000
a year.