In 1992, after a fire caused £50 million of damage to her Windsor Castle, Lizzy was initially going to have the taxpayers of the "Commonwealth" pick up the tab. Only after public outrage did Lizzy back down. In the end, British taxpayers picked up half the bill, with the Queen paying the other half herself. To show her gratitude, Lizzy, one of the richest women in the world, began inviting the public into Buckingham Palace during August
and September - for a fee.

This was also the year that she agreed to start paying income taxes.

Christopher Hitchens, in the August 2000 issue of Vanity Fair writes that the Queen Mum drinks at least a bottle of gin a day! That could explain how she's reached 100 - she's pickled herself from the inside out!

The BBC reported that a number of boxes of documents relating to the abdication of Edward VIII which have remained classified since the crisis in 1937 were due to have been made public on 1st March 2000. However, one of the 11 so called "Monckton boxes" contains material that is still so damaging to the Royal Family that it has been reclassified until 2037 - a full 100 hundred years after the abdication. One can only guess at the shameful deeds it conceals. Edward was known to have been a strong supporter of the Nazi Party in Germany, a fact which the current Royal Family still won't discuss.

The late Lord Mountbatten's private secretary, John Barratt, labeled the royals "mean as cat's piss" for their parsimony with servants and staff retainers. One such incident occured in 1983, when, on tour in California as a guest of the Reagans, Prince Philip attacked his American Secret Serviceman chauffeur with a rolled-up newspaper because he wouldn't start the car fast enough.

Columnist Ann Landers says that when she was introduced to Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth's sister, Margaret demanded to know, "Are you a Jew?" and strode away when Landers answered in the affirmative.

The "Act of Settlement" bars non-Protestants from taking the throne. This is in direct contravention of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination on the basis of religion. Of course, it also flies in the face of intellect, taste, and common sense. But hey, we're talking about the monarchy aren't we?

Under the Treason Felony Act 1848, it is treason if "any person whatsoever, within the United Kingdom with or without devise or intent to deprive our most gracious Lady the Queen from the style, honour or Royal Name of the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom." The Guardian newspaper of the UK is currently challenging this law, since it forbids them from even suggesting that the monarchy is an outdated institution. Oh yes, it also means that this type of website would be illegal in Britain!