You're not the only one sliding slowly into poverty: Due to new austerity measures, Queen Elizabeth II is taking a pay cut. Her salary, drawn from British taxpayer funds, will be limited to a mere $50 million this year.

That's about half of what she was allotted last year, to dole out for parties, palace maintenance, and other family affairs, ABC News reports.

"You don't really realize, but the queen is going around Buckingham Palace, turning off the lights, having fewer staff, even turning the heating down. She sometimes even writes letters in her very own fur coat," explains professional royalty apologist Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Royal Magazine. The New York Daily News notes that Her Royal Highness recently blew "almost $800,000" on a horse. Tough times for all. [NYDN, ABCNews, image via Getty]