Queen Elizabeth Gets It All

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has inherited her mother's entire estate, mainly works of art and other contents of her houses, Buckingham Palace said Friday.

The value of the estate was not announced, but British newspapers have estimated its worth at some $73 million in art, jewelry and race horses. The palace has described that figure as "speculative."

The queen has decided the most important of the Queen Mother Elizabeth's paintings and other art works should be held in trust for the nation as part of the Royal Collection, the palace said.

Some, including works by Claude Monet and Carl Faberge, will go on display May 22 in the Queen's Gallery at the palace.

The palace added that in her will, the queen mother asked the queen to give staff members "certain bequests," which will be subject to inheritance tax, the palace said.

Inheritance tax is payable at 40 percent above a $365,000 threshold, but the queen has been exempted on a rule that covers bequests from sovereign to sovereign or from the consort of a sovereign to a reigning monarch.

The rule was agreed with the government in 1993 in recognition of the need for the sovereign to avoid erosion of the royal family's wealth.

The palace also announced plans for a re-allocation of royal residences.

It said Prince Charles is expected to move from St. James's Palace to Clarence House, his grandmother's former London home, which will become his office and official residence in the capital.

After fire safety and refurbishment work that will be paid for largely by a government maintenance grant, the ground floor of Clarence House likely will be opened to the public during August and September in future years, the palace said.

Prince Andrew is planning to dispose of Sunninghill Park, his large house near Windsor, and move into Royal Lodge, the Queen Mother's former Windsor Castle residence, where she died March 30 at age 101.

Prince Charles will continue to use Birkhall, a large house on the queen's private Balmoral estate in Scotland, which had been used by the Queen Mother.