GREENSBORO, N.C. — Queen Elizabeth will lie in state, with thousands of people coming to pay their respects. All the pageantry is so very public, for the whole world to see.
Hundreds of thousands are expected to visit the 900-year-old Westminster Hall, the oldest building in Parliament, before her state funeral Monday. The line snaking along the banks of the River Thames was nearly 3 miles long, according to a government tracker.
The coffin was draped in the Royal Standard and topped with the Imperial State Crown — encrusted with almost 3,000 diamonds — and a bouquet of flowers and plants, including pine from the Balmoral Estate, where Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 at the age of 96.
There is a lot going on, but there is just as much going on that the public will not see or really even hear about.
For example, the Queen's will is not expected to be made public. Queen Elizabeth's personal net worth was never officially disclosed during her life, but estimates put it between $400 million and $500 million.
The Washington Post says the newly-crowned King and his siblings will not have to pay any inheritance taxes on the money. A 1993 agreement with Parliament limited the monarchy's tax liability.
The Queen's wealth is not to be confused with the monarchy's wealth, the so-called "Royal Firm” which has recently been estimated to be around $28 billion.
According to the BBC, the monarchy money is complicated where it comes from, where it goes, what is made public and what isn't. Royals may get a weekly payday, but the money isn’t sorted out that way at the beginning, it is a yearly lump sum.