The Queen owns more than 6 billion acres. almost 5% of the planet's surface area

[Liberal_in_LA]

The planet is only 130 billion acres. so she owns 6/130 or almost 5% of the surface area of the planet. how do you feel about that. Weird to think about.

Inheritied wealth to the nth degree.

[Wilms]

1. I am SO excited about the wedding.

Aren't you? :shrug:

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. I'm sure the prince is a nice guy but all he did to receive such fame is be born.

[Wilms]

11. I admit, I'm really bad about adding a sarcasm tag when indicated.

The whole thing, especially the public tolerance and fascination with monarchy, is a symptom of our subjugation.

[cali]

18. it's entertainment, hardly subjugation to the british monarchy

though I must confess it doesn't interest me. I find all that pageantry dull.

[Wilms]

27. The argument that the monarchy is a tourist attraction is the only one remotely sane. n/t

I'm sure the tabloids are thrilled.

[SaveAmerica]

34. (psst, I think that *is* the prince, Prince Wilms)

[Confusious]

64. I'll be playing a video game most likely. nt

[Motown_Johnny]

3. only if you count Canada

:sarcasm:

[Kolesar]

25. Well played...eom

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. I heard it from one of those specials on the royals yesterday. Correct me if I'm wrong

[Blue-Jay]

40. It's YOUR responsibility to post factual statements.

"I heard it somewhere" is not the same as a fact. You get that, right?

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. Killed? Because of who they were born to? A bit harsh methinks. n/t

[cali]

15. really? you think all herditary monarchs should be killed? and their offspring

I suppose and the offspring of their offspring. why not just vote them out of power if that's what the people of, say, England wish to do?

[tularetom]

5. How do I feel about that? Incredulous, that's how

Is there a map or table showing where these 6 billion acres are located?

When you consider that 2/3 of the world's surface is covered with water, the fact that the queen owns 6 billion of them is amazing.

[cali]

16. it's also bullshit.

[Sonoman]

6. Where did you find that? nt

[cherokeeprogressive]

7. Thought I read somewhere once that The Crown is the largest landowner in the US. n/t

[cali]

19. it is not.

[cherokeeprogressive]

26. Thought wrong then. Maybe someone else read it. n/t

[cliffordu]

9. Ah, Bullshit.

Nuff said.

[Critters2]

10. If this is a reference to land in the Commonwealth, well, don't individual

people actually own all that land? Or is she really just letting them use it?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

12. I hope she is using a zero turn mower. That's a lot of green, in more than one

way.

[cali]

14. she doesn't really own it.

it's a legal technicality. she can't sell Canada or any part of it that she doesn't own as a private person- if she owns any land in that capacity. Same goes for New Zealand etc.

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. thanks for the correction

[A HERETIC I AM]

43. I find it facinating that posts like this that state truth on DU get so few responses...

yet posts that perpetuate and encourage outrage receive so many responses.

OH MY GOD!!! THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND OWNS ONE SIXTH OF THE WORLD!!! I AM SO OUTRAGED!!! I COULD SPIT NAILS AT HOW MUCH I HATE THE RICH AND PRIVILEGED!!!!

Yeah.

Except she doesn't. as your post points out.

DU never ceases to amaze me.

[grillo7]

57. It's some quirk of human nature...

it's another manifestation of birtherism, or trutherism, or what have you. The sensational and scandalous bits are always more fun to believe and perpetuate, even if facts suggest otherwise.

[SidDithers]

66. +1...

I can't handle the perpetual outrage anymore. Anger about legitimate issues is one thing, hyperventilation about imagined wrongs is something else entirely.

Sid

[aikoaiko]

17. I have no feelings about it.

If the British people want a monarchy, that's their choice.

[malaise]

20. Is that more or less than the

catholic church

[crickets]

56. Good one. -nt

[Raine]

21. Yeah but can she sell it? If she can't than her "ownership" is meaningless.

If the Brits want their monarchy that's their choice and I'm not going to crap on it.

[Recovered Repug]

47. Just watch, one night she'll get drunk and lose Canada in

a poker game.

[Raine]

58. LOL

:spray: :thumbsup:

[WatsonT]

63. Isn't that how the crown acquired Canada in the first place?

Getting drunk and losing a poker game?

[TheMadMonk]

23. Hold's in trust actually. It's not hers to dispose of, except possibly...

...in the creation of a new Hereditary Peer.

The only thing which could "take" the land from her is an act of Parliament. And since most of the land is in the "colonies" it would also take the cooperation of their parliaments too.


You might also want to consider that it also represents 5% of the Earth's land surface which ISN'T being destroyed by exploitative industries.

[Canuckistanian]

24. Not exactly true if you include "crown land"

Crown Land actually belongs to the government of the land that it's in. The governments can sell it, lease it. turn it into parks, etc.

The Royal Family has direct control and ownership of very few properties. And all of them are in Great Britain.

[pnwmom]

28. In what sense does she "own" all that land? n/t

[SDuderstadt]

29. Do you have any sort of corroboration for this? n/t

[dionysus]

73. maybe facts just aren't their game.

[kestrel91316]

30. Link, please, proving she actually personally owns the land in question.

[pnwmom]

31. Not quite. The "Crown Estate" -- not the Queen herself -- owns about $6.2 billion

worth of property. Many, many fewer acres than that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Estate

In the United Kingdom, the Crown Estate is a property portfolio owned by the Crown. Although still belonging to the monarch and inherent with the accession of the throne, it is no longer the private property of the reigning monarch and cannot be sold by him/her, nor do the revenues from it belong to the monarch personally. It is managed by an independent organisation headed by the Crown Estate Commissioners. The surplus revenue from the Estate is paid each year to HM Treasury. The Crown Estate is formally accountable to Parliament, to which it makes an annual report.<1>

The Crown Estate is one of the largest property owners in the United Kingdom with a portfolio worth £6.2 billion, with urban properties valued at £4 billion, and rural holdings valued at £972 million; and an annual profit of £210.7 million, as at 15 July 2010.<2> The majority of the estate by value is urban, including a large number of properties in central London, but the estate also owns 107,000 ha (260,000 acres) of agricultural land and forest,<3> more than 55% of the UK's foreshore, and retains various other traditional holdings and rights, for example Ascot racecourse and Windsor Great Park.

[provis99]

32. flat out lie by anti-royalists.

This has been debunked. Among the lands she supposedly 'owns' are Australia and Canada. Only the extremely gullible believe what you have posted.

[Curmudgeoness]

33. And yet I heard that the wedding costs will be on the taxpayers.

Go figure.

[Drale]

38. If we had a "royal family"

I would rather spend tax money for someone to get married, rather than handing it to the gangster bankers.

[Curmudgeoness]

74. And I would rather tax money is spent on neither.

The royal family has enough wealth to be able to cover all the costs of this extravaganza, including all the increased security costs involved. And if they don't, they they should do what the people who pay the bills have to do---cut back expenses or elope.

[Mark Baker]

65. Not for the wedding itself

The royal family will be paying the costs of the service and the reception.

But there are various other costs, such as for policing the huge crowds expected in central London that will be paid by the taxpayer.

[Curmudgeoness]

75. Not entirely. Besides the costs for security and police,

there are more guests invited to the wedding than to the reception, so they will be having another reception for these minor people, paid for by taxpayers. And why should the taxpayers be footing the bill for any of this monstrousity. The royal family has enough wealth to take care of whatever costs are incurred, and if not, they should do what the rest of us do and scale down the pomp.

I just don't get the entitlement that a bunch of do-nothings have.

Costs and what taxpayers will be asked to pay for: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1360015/Royal-wedding-Taxpayers-fund-party-Kate-Middletons-rejects.html

[defendandprotect]

35. Remember when America was official anti-Monarchy?

[Vanje]

49. Rec THIS post....if I could nt

[freshwest]

55. And anti-colonial? Okay, don't flame, but if I don't say that, it'll just fester.

[Drale]

36. The question is

are those lands open to the public or closed and only the royal family is allowed to use them? If they are open to the public, then they are similar to the national parks I would think and if they are not, perhaps they should be.

[tammywammy]

46. I believe they keep Canada open to the public. n/t

[moriah]

37. Are they referring to Canada?

"Within Canada, Crown Land is a designated area belonging to the Queen in Right of Canada,<5> the equivalent of an entailed estate that passes with the monarchy and cannot be alienated from it; thus, per constitutional convention, these lands cannot be unilaterally sold by the monarch, instead passing on to the next king or queen unless the sovereign is advised otherwise by the ministers of the Crown. Though the Canadian monarch owns all Crown Land in the country, paralleling the "division" of the Crown amongst the federal and provincial governments, Crown Land is similarly divied so that some lands within the province are administered by the provincial Crown, whereas others are under the federal Crown. About 89% of Canada's land area (8,886,356 km²) is Crown Land, which may either be federal (41%) or provincial (48%); the remaining 11% is privately-owned.<6> Most federal Crown land is in the Canadian territories (Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon), and is administered by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Only 4% of land in the provinces is federally-controlled, largely in the form of National Parks, Indian reserves, or Canadian Forces bases. In contrast, provinces hold much of their territory as provincial Crown Land, which may be held as Provincial Parks or wilderness."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_land

That accounts for 2 billion acres right there, actually, per a handy dandy online calculator...

[Blue-Jay]

39. Is that true?

I have no great interest in British royalty, but I've been unable to find any evidence that the Queen actually OWNS 5% of the planet. Did you make that up? Please show your work.

Thank you.

[canetoad]

41. Fact-checking. Not only nerds and academics do it.

http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/about_us.htm

[barbtries]

42. it's absurd.

that's what i think. :shrug:

[datasuspect]

44. God save the Queen

[Motown_Johnny]

62. We Mean It Man! (Sex Pistols Fan?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1IReGYKsyM

[Vanje]

71. No future!

No future for YOU!

[A HERETIC I AM]

45. You really should be ashamed of yourself for posting such bullshit. n/t

[canetoad]

50. It points to a woeful knowledge of world government

To think that because ER2 is head of commonwealth/state for a number of nations that she personally owns the land.

[Vanje]

48. ....and OH! How Hard she worked for EVERY square foot

....yeah. Her hands are so callosed. Her dungarees are so soiled.

[Raine]

59. Yeah and like she really owns Canada ... NOT!

:silly:

[Vanje]

70. ;';'

Though she may not own Canada, Queen Elizabeth IS one of the wealthiest people on the planet.

[daleo]

51. She owns Crown land

The same way that somebody called "Uncle Sam" owns federal land in the U.S.

[Yo_Mama]

52. How can anyone believe this nonsense? n/t

[leeroysphitz]

53. How many hectares is that?

[NYC Liberal]

54. Oh yeah well Obama owns 2 billion acres...I mean

after all, he's the president of the United States...and the United States has about 2 billion acres of land...so um...I don't know what that means but I'm just gonna get OUTRAGED!

:crazy:

[KurtNYC]

61. you have to subtract the borough of Queens from Obama's total

so that's 1.99985 billion acres for him.

[BR_Parkway]

60. Her great-grandparents used to own a lot more.

[SidDithers]

67. She owns no such amount...

Sid

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

68. Well, she had to work very hard to acquire every inch of it.

[pipi_k]

69. I hope she's got a riding mower for grass-cutting day... n/t

[Taitertots]

72. It should say that the British have stolen 5% of the earth's surface

They sure as hell were not given it for how well they treated indigenous people.