London: The global financial turmoil has hit Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, with the royal losing an estimated 25 million pounds of her personal fortunes in the credit crunch.

According to a report in The Sunday Telegraph, the Queen, who paid a visit to the London School of Economics last week, had a briefing from professors on the economic meltdown.

Her question on the large hole in the international economic system had the pleasing incisiveness of an astute child’s: “Why did nobody notice it?”

The Queen, whose personal fortune is estimated to have fallen by 25 million pounds in the credit crunch, described the turbulence on the markets as ‘awful’.

“The Queen asked me, ‘If these things were so large, how come everyone missed them,´” Professor Luis Garicano, director of research at the LSE’s management department, was quoted as saying.

Explaining the origins and effects of the credit crisis, Garicano told the Queen: “At every stage, someone was relying on somebody else and everyone thought they were doing the right thing.”

Like homeowners across Britain, the Queen has faced escalating prices for fuel, food and home repairs which have seen the costs of carrying out her duties double.

In April, the Queen’s private wealth was estimated to be 320 million pounds by Forbes magazine, which included a personal investment portfolio valued at 100 million pounds.