World Notes ROYALTY

Hear ye! Hear ye! A life fit for a queen does not come cheap. The cost of running the British royal household this year will total 56 million pounds, or $109 million, according to an official report. The tab includes $139,000 for libations and $122,850 for laundry. Most of the funds go to maintain four . palaces, three planes, two helicopters, a train and the yacht Britannia, while remunerations for members of the royal family total $20.3 million, including $15.4 million for the Queen.

Her Majesty is trying to tighten her purse strings. Since 1983, maintenance costs for the fleet of cars has dropped from $83,463 to $70,736, while the bill for flowers has grown by a scant $370, to $74,002. But despite a barely concealed disdain for the media at the palace, the cost of newspapers has almost doubled, to $26,036.