Not just 200 years ago ... English kings had a tendency to spend all the money on foreign wars. Take Henry VIII for example: > Henry inherited a vast fortune

Not just 200 years ago ... English kings had a tendency to spend all the money on foreign wars. Take Henry VIII for example: > Henry inherited a vast fortune and a prosperous economy from his father, who had been frugal. This fortune is estimated at £1,250,000 (the equivalent of £375 million today). By comparison, Henry VIII's reign was a near disaster financially. He augmented the royal treasury by seizing church lands, but his heavy spending and long periods of mismanagement damaged the economy. > Henry VII had not involved Parliament in his affairs very much, but Henry VIII had to turn to Parliament during his reign for money, in particular for grants of subsidies to fund his wars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII#Finances https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII#Finances Hmmm, having said that, the section mentions he spent a lot of money on tapestries, so maybe it was not all war.