British Queen wins soaps and bath oil

LONDON: The Queen of England -- Europe's second wealthiest monarch with a 1.2-billion-pound fortune has won a raffle prize of two bars of soaps and bath oil, according to a leading British tabloid.

Organisers couldn't believe it when a winning ticket was pulled out with 'The Queen, Buckingham Palace' written on it but sources in the raffle at Fox Primary School in Notting Hill revealed "the ticket was genuine", 'The Sun' reported here on Monday.

In fact, a courtier at Buckingham Palace has children at the school and the Queen offered to buy some tickets after overhearing him selling them to other workers. Her name then went into the hat with thousands of others, the sources said.

The Queen is known to prefer a bath to a shower. "I understand Her Majesty has been formally notified about her lucky win, but has not yet come to claim her prize," the unnamed sources were quoted as saying.

According to an official at Buckingham Palace, "This is not the first time the Queen has taken part in raffles.

Like most people she thinks they are a bit of fun and a great way to raise money.

I have no idea whether she has ever been lucky enough to win a prize before but the fact that she has won bath oil is very amusing. She loves to relax in the bath and I am sure she will be looking forward to getting her hands on her windfall."