IS SHE TIGHT ABOUT MONEY! Tightisima!
You noted the most famous anecdote about her, which was true. There are any number of anecdotes about her famed Scots attitude towards expense. I think that's one of the most salubrious things about the British aristocracy in general -- they are not spendthrifts, if they can help it. Whereas the nouveaux riches just buy a whole new bedsheet, the Queen and others have theirs darned so it lasts another 50 to 100 years. If they can use a bit of glue on broken priceless Sèvres or Wedgewood, they do.
That attitude, whilst not shared by her countrymen all the time, is seen as unequalled about their class. In fact, the bad opinion of Americans held by Brits is about that tendency that Americans have of being a throw-away society. It comes from this aristocratic ideal of being thrifty and preserving what you can, so as not be flashy or lacking in heritage.
Prince Charles is just as mean as his mother. His only notable personal extravagance the whole of his life has been a U$40,000 sound system for Highgrove. Because you know, you can't listen to operas using a boom box.
Aha, so it runs in the family. I see what you mean about her countrymen not agreeing to all this "mending and darning"! After all, one would think that counting pennies is the least of their worries and that they couldn't care less about ordering new sheets by the dozen without a second thought. Again, that's what makes them and the rest of the aristocracy different from the nouveau riches! And that's probably why they have survived into the 21st century. I remember watching Stephen Frear's "the Queen" and there was this scene in which the Queen and the Duke are in bed, in Balmoral of all places, just about to switch the light off and all I could think of was "brrrr, I bet the heating has been turned off for the night...".
