Devoted to small businesses and those who run them

McDonalds has been added to the Queen's menu... the financial menu that is.

The Queen has bought a McDonald's as part of a property deal. It even has a drive through, but I don't think we'll be seeing the royal wave there any time soon.

However, the tenants in the complex are happy. It seems having the Queen as landlord sets their minds at rest over their leases, as the future of the site is secure. This is unlike the Italian town, where the local bakery's popularity drove McDonald's out of town.

Queen's Financial Woes
In the meantime, the Queen, one of Britain's wealthiest women, has her own financial problems.

The British government refused her a 4 million pounds annual grant for repairs to Buckingham Palace. This was due to cost blow outs with the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games to be held in London. 

As reported by the Telegraph.co.uk

The Queen's people argued 

A £32 million backlog of essential repairs has built up which includes rewiring Buckingham Palace, replacing the roof at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, removing potentially dangerous asbestos from Buckingham Palace and redecorating most of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace for the first time since the Queen came to the throne in 1952.

The Firm
While Buckingham Palace is one of the Queen's residences, she makes no secret that she is running a business - "The Firm", she calls it.

Luckily, most small businesses don't have those sort of maintenance costs.  Hamburger, anyone?