No Christmas gifts for the Queen of England? CBS News says that in an effort to show solidarity with the recession-stricken people of her land, Queen Elizabeth II has let it known that she and her husband Prince Philip do not require gifts this year. The Queen has had some financial struggles of her own this year, forced to cut costs and ask for additional money from the British government for the upkeep of the royal castles. According to Forbes, the monarch has a fortune of $450 million which sounds like a lot but that number is down $200 million from recent years.

The royal family generally spends Christmas at Sandringham Estate, the Queen's country manor in Norfolk, England, a few days before Christmas. The Royals generally don't splash out on fancy gifts anyway but the Queen is taking extra precautions requesting that any potential gifts be donated to local charities and hospitals instead. The Queen has also been reusing more of her wardrobe and has instructed family members to cut back.

Every year, Queen Elizabeth II awards miniature bottles of whisky to the guards at her estate in Sandringham. And we'd be telling you more about them – what kind, how much they're worth, how many she hands out annually – if not for a blanket classification issued on the subject by local police. That's right, the bottles of scotch handed out by the Queen are considered a matter of national security.

According to Norfolk police, if they divulged how many bottles were distributed, it would give away how many guards are stationed there. And if Al-Qaeda found out, it would make it easier for them to kidnap members of the royal family. That might seem like an extreme measure of paranoia, but not in the context of break-ins at royal residences in recent history. Aside from terrorism, one man infiltrated Buckingham Palace in 1982, the Queen awaking to find him sitting on her bed. Ten ears later a man was arrested on the premises twice, while another intruder broke into St. James Palace and had himself a scotch. Two years later, a drunken man knocked on Princess Anne's door to ask for directions to the railway station. The embarrassing intrusions have left local police on high alert to prevent further incidents, hence the refusal to disclose details of the whisky distribution. And there you have it.

[Source: The Daily Mail]

A few months back we saw that plans to turn the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship into a floating hotel in Dubai had been delayed. The owner, developer Nakheel had planned to moor it at the Palm Jumeirah development but now word has come that the ship may be on the move. The AP has an email from Nakheel saying that other ports have expressed interest in hosting the ship. Nakheel had purchased the ship for a reported $100 million and had plans to recreate the original decor and fittings of the ship from when she was launched in 1967 only with a modern day spin that included adding a 500-seat theater and building a massive spa complex. Those plans are are on hold as Nahkeel, which has developments across Dubai, is considering all offers and has applied to anchor the ship in Cape Town, South Africa.

The email said that the company is working "to ensure opportunities to experience QE2 in her current condition are maximized whilst ensuring her important heritage is at all times protected." This seems like more continued spin from Nakheel which has been hard hit by Dubai's real estate slump and tourism decline. The company has shelved a variety of projects including Donald Trump's planned hotel and has received some of the $10 billion in government bailout funds. There are also reports of widespread layoffs. The company has said before it has no plans to sell the ship. There is widespread speculation as to whether the company will be able to pay off $3.5 billion worth of debt coming due this year so it seems that they might be willing to sell the QE2 if they can find a buyer.

Last year we first heard that Queen of England was private jet shopping. But now The Sun says that the Queen won't be picking up her own 12-seat plane after all. The global economic crunch is being blamed. The Royal Family was to take possession of the jet this year but Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth has announced that the Royal Family will fly on RAF planes until April of next year. This is the second time the Queen has missed out on getting her own plane, Prime Minister Gordon Brown already canceled a plan to buy three private aircraft for the government which would have been used by the Royal Family as well.

Back in 2007, the plan to turn the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship into a floating hotel in Dubai was just another lavish project in Dubai. Now this project, like so many others, may be in trouble. The QE2 was bought by government-owned developer Nakheel for a reported $100 million. It was to sit on at a pier in the Palm Jumeirah development as another tourist destination. The company announced they would recreate the original decor and fittings of the ship from when she was launched in 1967 only with a modern day spin that included adding a 500-seat theater and building a massive spa complex.

The London Times says that because Nakheel has many other projects including the Palm Jumeirah and the Trump Tower, and because of the significant economic problems affecting Dubai, the QE2 project may end up being delayed. It was originally supposed to be completed this year. Nakheel told the Sunday Times that the conversion will go forward and that has no plans to sell the ship.

In order to draw tourists to Dubai, the Emirates airlines, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Dubai hoteliers and destination management companies, have launched the 'Keep Discovering Dubai' campaign to promote tourism from around the world.

More bad news for the Queen of England - she has fallen to 12th place on Forbes' list of the world's richest royals. Earlier this month we reported that the value of her London residence, Buckingham Palace, had fallen by a whopping $100 million thanks to declining property values.

Now Elizabeth II is suffering the added indignity of languishing on the rich list, as her measly $650 million fortune puts her well behind the UAE's oil-rich rulers. In the No. 1 spot for the first time is King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, with a net worth of $35 billion, who apparently shot up the list as a result of admitting he was richer than previously thought.

At No. 2 is Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE and hereditary ruler of Abu Dhabi, with a net worth of $23 billion. No. 3 is King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, worth $21 billion. And Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, ruler of Dubai, clocks in at No. 5 with $18 billion. See the complete list here.

The Queen of England's country estate, Balmoral, in Scotland, has a long history but that history may be a lot longer than the Queen's lineage. The Telegraph reports that fossilized bones belonging to a prehistoric woolly mammoth have been found on the estate. The mammoth remains were found as a workers were digging test holes for a new fishing loch. The bones include a molar tooth and a knee joint and have been taken to the University of Aberdeen for testing to determine their age.

Prince Charles has long been known for his eco-efforts including driving a wine powered car. But Queen Elizabeth is green-minded too. The Daily Telegraph reports that Queen Elizabeth who has also set up an energy-saving committee at Buckingham Palace, is turning Balmoral, her Scottish estate, into a property that is completely energy self-sufficient. A small hydro-electric plant has been installed at at Balmoral and it sells electricity to the national grid. The plant was developed on the Gelder Burn, a stream in the estate forest and generates enough power for Balmoral and for 1,000 private homes in the area. A water-driven turbine was originally installed in the 1920s to provide electricity, in the 1950s it was used to power the estate sawmill, and now since the mill is no longer in use a generator was installed which allows the turbine to be connected to the National Grid and offer power to the surrounding homes.

The Balmoral woodlands are registered with the Forestry Stewardship Council which supports sustainable forestry worldwide and all farming practices are registered with the Soil Association, which promotes organic food and farming. The estate is also a big recycler turning tons of organic waste into compost each year. Even the royal protection officers pedal around the estate on bicycles and use their vehicles less. It's all part of the Queen's commitment to climate change initiatives, a stance which she has urged other nations to adopt.