On April 29, Kate Middleton became a member of one of the most important royal families around the world. Unlike entrepreneurs, kings and queens acquired their wealth through birth and the privileges conferred by their statute, not because of any talent or effort. Currently, there are still many royal families that control resources that can not be ignored.
Thailand, the leading position
Bhumibol, Thailand’s king is not only the longest reigning monarch of all current royalties, but also the richest in the world. According to Forbes magazine, his fortune is estimated at 30 billion dollars, much of which was built by the royal family in business investments in Thailand, such as Siam Cement and Siam Commercial Bank.
Although King Bhumibol has relatively limited power, the political system in Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, he was involved several times in state of affairs to resolve country’s political crisis.
Oil sets the world in motion
Much of the world’s richest families owe the wealth to their country’s natural resources and particularly oil. Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei’s sultan, has an estimated fortune of 20 billion dollars.
King of Saudi Arabia is part of the richest monarchs, the wealth of Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz’s is estimated to be about 18 billion dollars.
Controlling almost 10% of the world’s oil resources, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi has an estimated fortune of 15 billion dollars. Sheikh Al Maktoum of Dubai has a fortune estimated at over 4 billion dollars.
Money of the old royal families of Europe
Monarchs of Europe are at the bottom of the list of the richest royal families. Hans-Adam II, monarch of Liechtenstein, has a fortune estimated at about $4 billion, of which at least 2 billion from businesses in which he is involved, such as shares he holds in the LGT Bank .
Prince Albert II of Monaco is also a billionaire with a fortune of about $1 billion.
By comparison, England’s Queen Elizabeth and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands have a much smaller fortune of about U.S. $450 million, respectively, $200 million.