'Elizabeth Windsor owns one sixth of the land mass of our planet. A big Estate, it consists of Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom plus many more smaller 'Commonwealth' fiefdoms.

Her Crown Estate does not attract Inheritance or Capital Gains Tax. She has four palaces in the UK, one of which, Buckingham Palace, occasionally opens its doors for special groups.

According to Lord Halsbury in Laws of the Land 'The sovereign can do no wrong and no laws can be brought against her.' Clearly not, according to Heathcott Williams 'Her investments in BP and Rio Tinto Zinc mean, very simply, that she profits from petrol and uranium, and her subjects get ill' (Royal Babylon).

Yet she has never been heard to contradict the view that often crippling government wage and pension reducing 'austerity' measures are exactly the right medicine for her subjects.'

Read more: God Save the Queen, But What About Humanity?