Queen Opens Yard to Oil Drilling

Queen Elizabeth II has given a Canadian oilman the go-ahead to drill on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The monarch, plagued by family splits and income-tax demands from the government, will not earn a penny from the venture.

Oilman Desmond Oswald has promised not to turn her back garden into a 1920s-style oil field studded with derricks.

Oswald, managing director of Canuk Exploration Ltd., said, “We will be about half a kilometer (0.3 mile) from the castle in the grounds. We hope to start drilling next summer.”

Oswald said the drilling to a depth of 984 feet is purely exploratory and will not affect the parkland around the castle.

He said Tuesday that up to 100 million barrels of oil could be found. But some oil analysts described the estimate as optimistic.

Windsor Mayor Dennis Outwin, fearful of what could happen to one of Britain’s most enduring symbols, said, “It’s bound to lead to Windsor Great Park being turned almost into a second Dallas. I feel the queen, whom I greatly admire and who has never put a foot wrong since she ascended to the throne, has for the first time made a bad mistake, or she’s been badly advised.”

Windsor Castle was ravaged by a fire two years ago. Repairs will cost up to $93.57 million.

Any royalties from the oil field will go to the Treasury.