Elizabeth, Queen of E-Land? She Makes $1.5 Million in ‘Dot-Com’ IPO

LONDON —  Britain’s newest “dot-com” millionaire probably won’t blow the money on a new car, diamonds, antiques or a big house.

Queen Elizabeth II, who made nearly $1.5 million with Friday’s initial public offering of Getmapping.com, is not lacking in worldly goods.

The queen had invested $160,000 last year for a 1.5% stake in the company, which is taking aerial photographs of Britain. The stock closed at $3.58, up 38 cents from an opening price of $3.20, making the queen’s stake worth $1.6 million.

The queen became involved with Getmapping.com after she agreed that its facsimiles of the Domesday Book, the 11th-century survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror, could be dedicated to her.

The company, set up in 1998, says it has photographed 85% of England and expects to complete photographing the whole United Kingdom this year.

A million dollars won’t move the queen any higher in the list of Britain’s richest women. With an estimated fortune of $440 million, she was ranked No. 8 this year by the Sunday Times.

But estimating the queen’s wealth is notoriously difficult.

Buckingham Palace complained to the Press Complaints Commission in 1995 when Business Age magazine estimated her wealth at $3.4 billion, up from $245 million the previous year. The difference? The royal art collection, the palace and other properties were included.