The Queen wins free postcode lottery: Buckingham Palace scoops £250

Someone from Buckingham Palace has won £250 on the Free Postcode Lottery. It's not known whether it was the Queen who registered for the free lottery - or a member of her household or staff - but who ever it is will be able to pick up their winnings anonymously, so perhaps the Queen could add even more to her earnings for the year.

The Royal win comes hot on the heels of news that the Queen's income is set to rise by 6.5% to £4.56 million a year - so this is a nice little top-up.

How did she win?

The lottery is free to enter: you just have to register your postcode. The lottery picks one of these postcodes at random each day to win the jackpot, and publishes it on the site at midday. All you have to do is go onto the site to see if you are a winner, and then make your claim before midday the following day.

The jackpot is one of three separate games on the site - which gives away a total of £450 a day. The prizes are funded through advertising, because you need to check the site every day to see if you are a winner.

It means that someone connected to Buckingham Palace has registered. It's tempting to think it's royalty, but in reality you can enter your workplace, so it could be any member of staff. You can also pick any postcode you like - so it could just be someone having a bit of fun.

Did she really win?

There are actually three people who have registered the postcode, and with two hours left to go, one had claimed the money. If more claim later, they will share the jackpot. As one player commented on the site: "Hold on there's 3 winners. Perhaps the Duke and one of the corgis are signed up."

Chris Holbrook, founder of freepostcodelottery.com, said: "The draw today has really thrown us – or should I saw 'throne' us! We have been aware for sometime that the Buckingham Palace postcode had been entered and it was always a possibility that it could get drawn out as the process is totally random. As we don't take any personal details apart from an email address we have no way of knowing who this is but now that they've been crowned the winner, they are £250 richer."

Could you win?

Regardless of who registered the postcode, it's a timely reminder of a brilliant freebie. If you have a minute to check the draws each day, you could make £250. When nobody claims the prize, it rolls up too, and in the past prizes have risen to as much as £1,250.

It's a genuine freebie, and the site doesn't take your name or sell any details onto third parties, so there's no price to pay in terms of data either. As Holbrook told AOL last year: "All it costs is the time it takes to check if you're a winner. If you don't have the time, then it may not be right for you, but if you do: why not?"