Daily Star
A list of the world’s richest royals has been revealed – and The Queen doesn’t even come close.
Netflix’s The Crown may have made Her Majesty the planet’s most iconic monarch with an estimated £350 million in her coffers.
But the five richest royals in the world are far richer and all come from Africa and Asia.
Maha Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand, takes the top spot with up to $43billion (£31.4bn).
That’s nearly 100 times more than Queen Elizabeth whose only big expenditure is said to be on horses.
Meanwhile, the southeast Asian king also known as Rama X has amassed a fleet of 38 jet planes and helicopters.
He is thought to share them with his royal consort Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, who is a qualified pilot.
The king ascended to the throne shortly after the death of his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2016 and is the tenth monarch of the Chakri dynasty, South China Morning Post reports.
According to Fortune, much of his wealth comes from his 23 per cent stake in Siam Commercial Bank, one of the country’s biggest lenders, and Siam Cement Group, the country’s largest industrial conglomerate.
The Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei, has slipped into second place this year as he maintained his staggering $28 billion (£20.5bn) wealth – which mostly comes from his country’s massive oil reserves.
He reportedly enjoys regular $20,000 (£14.6k) haircuts and maintaining his 1,788-room palace and fleet of 5,000 vehicles including hundreds of Rolls-Royces.
Third place goes to another oil-rich monarch – King Salman of Saudi Arabia who is said to be worth $18bn (£13.2bn).
King Salman seems to enjoy opulence, apparently sharing a love of ultra-expensive yachts and paintings.
Like the Sultan, his wealth comes from the portion of the royal family’s estimated $1.4 trillion (£1 trillion) portfolio – which includes the oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco.
His 34-year-old son and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, is nicknamed MBS.
Fourth place goes to Sheikh Khalifa of Abu Dhabi, the richest of the United Arab Emirates’ rulers, worth an estimated $15 billion (£11bn).
Much of his riches come from the UAE’s oil reserves and the Panama Papers suggest he owns many luxurious properties in London worth more than $1.7 billion (£1.3bn).
Fifth place goes to the richest monarch in Africa, Morocco’s reigning King Mohammed VI – who is said to be worth between $2bn and $8bn (£1.5bn and £5.9bn).
That’s still at least four times the Queen’s whose investments have taken a battering since 2018, say reports.
King Mohammed VI inherited a 35 per cent stake in holding company Société Nationale d‘Investissement (SNI) from his late father, King Hassan – which is soaring in value.
His portfolio also includes shares in Morocco’s largest bank Attijariwafa, mining company Group Managem, sugar-producing company Cosumar, and dairy company Centrale Danone.
But not much is known about how this descendant of the Alaouite dynasty spends his money. His palace daily operating budget was estimated at $960,000 (£701k) by Forbes in 2014.
