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Always concerned about staying in touch with her subjects, Queen Elizabeth II has invited Britain's royal family to follow her example and tighten the purse strings during the financial downturn.

The 82-year-old monarch has warned her grandsons Princes William, 26, and Harry, 24 - third and fourth in line to the throne - that all ostentatious signs of living it up would be inappropriate, according to local newspapers.

British subjects are apparently in no mood to see the young royals partying in exclusive London nightclubs while the kingdom sinks into recession, the cost of living rockets and jobs are lost.

"Whatever is the mood of the nation, she (Queen Elizabeth) tries to go along with that mood," said Nicholas Davies, an author of several books on the monarchy.

The sovereign has a personal fortune of $475 million, according to The Sunday Times newspaper's 2008 Rich List, but is not a spendthrift.

"She's not a flamboyant character and never has been," Davies said.

"She is not someone who has gone and spoiled her children, because she doesn't believe in spoiling them. She would expect them all (the other royals) to follow her example this Christmas.

"Children or grand-children, they will all behave in the same way. It is unlikely that this coming season we will see William and Harry going out to nightclubs, getting blind drunk and fooling around with attractive girls."

Adapting to the credit crunch should not be difficult for Queen Elizabeth, who has long since garnered a reputation for looking after the pennies.

For example, she insists that the Buckingham Palace lights are turned off when rooms are vacated and left-overs from banquets are re-used.

Annual head of state expenditure has dropped from $58.8 million in 1991-1992 to $27 million in 2007-2008.

In mid-October this year, during her state visit to Slovakia and Slovenia, she showed how she has cut back her wardrobe expenditure as a nod to the tougher times enveloping her subjects.

For a state banquet in the the Slovene capital Ljubljana, the queen asked her dressmakers to make her a formal gown out of some material she was given more than 20 years ago during a tour of the Middle East.

For her walkabout in the city centre, she wore a red outfit already seen at an official engagement in April. In Slovakia, she appeared in the same pink wool outfit that she wore on Easter Sunday.

Normally, etiquette demands that the queen never wears the same outfit twice.

However, the British press believes Her Majesty is a convert to "credit crunch couture", or fashion for those whose clothing spending has been hit by the financial downturn.

Her husband Prince Philip remains a peppery naval officer without no zest for flashy spending. At the age of 87, he still wears trousers bought 30 years ago.

Questions:

1. What is Queen Elizabeth’s personal fortune worth?

2. Why is she telling members of the royal family not to spend money frivolously?

3. What is one example of the Queen cutting back on spending?

Answers:

1. $475 million.

2. Because the British taxpayers would be annoyed at a time when people are losing their jobs, the cost of living increases and the country is in recession.

3. She insists the lights are turned off in Buckingham Palace if the room is unoccupied, leftovers at banquets are re-used and she is wearing the same outfits more than once.

（英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.