Queen 12th in Forbes list of richest royals
Her lands may date back to the reign of William the Conqueror, but when it comes to comparing the riches of the world's monarchs the Queen has been trumped by new money.
The Queen watches and waits as leaders negotiate Photo: IAN JONES
8:20PM BST 21 Aug 2008
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Oil rich Arab sheikhs, a prince with his own bank and a king who derives much of his wealth from cement all outdo the British head of state in a new ranking of the word's richest rulers.
With an estimated fortune of £349 million, the monarch has even slipped one position to 12th place in the chart compiled by the US magazine Forbes.
But despite an expensive schedule of official foreign trips and a widely publicised maintenance backlog at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, the Queen's position in the ranks of the super-rich remains secure.
The biggest change at the top is a surprise fall for last year's richest royal, the Sultan of Brunei, and the rise of the King of Thailand to claim his place.
A long-standing rival of Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, and the investor Warren Buffett for the title of richest man in the world, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah has tumbled to fourth place on the Forbes list of the world's richest rulers.
Despite the soaring global cost of oil and gas - long the mainstay of his wealth - there are now fears that oilfields in his south east Asian sultanate could dry up within a decade. Production in the state has been cut, knocking a staggering $1 billion (£534 million) off the estimates of the 62-year-old sultan's wealth.
But with a personal fortune estimated at £10.74 billion, he is unlikely to be pleading poverty any time soon.
His place has been taken by King Bhumibol Adulyade of Thailand, who is now believed to have a personal fortune worth £18.79 billion.
Already the world's longest serving monarch, the Thai king emerged as the word's richest ruler after new, more transparent, accounting practices were introduced revealing the true scale of his riches which include more than 3,000 acres of prime real estate land in Bangkok, a stake in a major bank and huge holdings in the Siam Cement company.
Far from a household name in western Europe, Sheikh Khalifa of Dubai was ranked as the world's second richest monarch with an estimated net worth of £11.27 billion thanks to some of the world's oil reserves and a real estate empire which has benefited from a 100 per cent rise in property prices.
Forbes said its estimates of the Queen's wealth included unspecified property in England and Scotland, fine art, gems and a stamp collection built by her grandfather George V.
But much of the assets associated with the Queen are not her personal possessions. Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Crown Jewels and the Royal Collection are instead held in trust for the nation.
The Crown Estate, the royal lands dating back to 1066, generate around £110 million a year which is handed back to the Government in return for a £40 million payment to cover the cost of running the monarchy.
The true value of the Queen's private property, which includes Balmoral, Sandringham, a smaller collection of jewellery and some paintings has never been disclosed. She also derives a personal income of around £12.5million a year from the Duchy of Lancaster.
But a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace insisted last night: "The Queen's personal wealth has always been vastly exaggerated."
But with a personal fortune estimated at £10.74 billion, he is unlikely to be pleading poverty any time soon.
His place has been taken by King Bhumibol Adulyade of Thailand, who is now believed to have a personal fortune worth £18.79 billion.
Already the world's longest serving monarch, the Thai king emerged as the word's richest ruler after new, more transparent, accounting practices were introduced revealing the true scale of his riches which include more than 3,000 acres of prime real estate land in Bangkok, a stake in a major bank and huge holdings in the Siam Cement company.
Far from a household name in western Europe, Sheikh Khalifa of Dubai was ranked as the world's second richest monarch with an estimated net worth of £11.27 billion thanks to some of the world's oil reserves and a real estate empire which has benefited from a 100 per cent rise in property prices.
Forbes said its estimates of the Queen's wealth included unspecified property in England and Scotland, fine art, gems and a stamp collection built by her grandfather George V.
But much of the assets associated with the Queen are not her personal possessions. Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Crown Jewels and the Royal Collection are instead held in trust for the nation.
The Crown Estate, the royal lands dating back to 1066, generate around £110 million a year which is handed back to the Government in return for a £40 million payment to cover the cost of running the monarchy.
The true value of the Queen's private property, which includes Balmoral, Sandringham, a smaller collection of jewellery and some paintings has never been disclosed. She also derives a personal income of around £12.5million a year from the Duchy of Lancaster.
But a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace insisted last night: "The Queen's personal wealth has always been vastly exaggerated."
