The Queen has taken to the drastic measure of roaming the corridors of her residences and switching off the lights in a bid to cut down on her annual power bills.
A Buckingham Palace employee said the Queen has encouraged staff to turning off all unnecessary lights and have even been spotted doing it herself.
New signs have been posted throughout her residences, reminding staff to conserve energy as average power bills have rose risen by nearly 20 per cent.
Royal accounts show the Queen''s annual energy bill for 2010-2011 was $3.5m, or 6.9 per cent of the monarchy''s total income from the government.
Assuming the palace''s fuel consumption remains constant, the power bill for this year would climb to $4m, representing about 8.2 per cent of the Queen''s income.
Four million households in England have already fallen into "fuel poverty" and the Queen may be at risk herself after her budget was frozen by the government until at least 2013.
Fuel poverty is a situation where a homeowner is spending more than 10 per cent of their annual income on gas and electricity bills.
