Royally Rich - A Top Ten Plus Five (why stop there, Forbes? Aren't there only 19 Royal Families to repertoriate?!?)

Forbes magazine, ever the wily business-saavy rag, knows there is an instant morbid interest in knowing who is so filthy rich that they can't ever hope to spend it all in their lifetime...

Yeah - people like to spend their free time envying the wealthier ones of this world!

Let's proceed then (onwards with the envying) by order:

Numero Uno is the Sultan of Brunei, worth US$22 billion (CDN $23.3 billion)

Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is ranked No. 2 overall; he rules over the tiny emirate of Abu Dhabi, home to one-tenth of the world's oil reserves; his net worth is estimated to be no less than US$21 billion (CDN$22.2 billion - but that was a month ago or so!).

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the deity-revered king of Thailand, is allegedly worth US$5 billion (CDN$5.3 billion) and that is good for number 5 - does that mean the top four are deities too?

Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein, who comes in at number 6 for instance, is no prisoner of his volition as he resides over a US$4.5 billion (CDN$4.8 billion)

The Aga Kahn, who is the spiritual leader of the world's dispersed 15 million Ismaili Muslims and does not, hence, rule over any territory per say, is the number ten on this list - which means that Monaco's 1.2 billion dollar bachelor, Prince Albert II, actually edges out a spiritual leader by coming in as number 8...!!!

There's truly no justice in this world!

And rounding up the short list, at number 15, we have one of the most interesting names ever to be found among royalty, for, hailing from sub-Saharan Africa comes 39-year-old King Mswati III of Swaziland, with a net worth of US$200 million (CDN$211.7 million). At 39, he is the youngest on the list too!

The collective worth of the list's 15 rulers is US$95 billion (CDN$100.5 billion)

And the Queen of England, you ask, WHERE is she in all this?
She comes in a paltry 11th on our ranking of the world's richest royalty, weighing in or rather being worth an estimated US$600 million (CDN$635.3 million) - only!



The Queen of the Netherlands is worth only HALF of what LIZ is reputed to command throughout the remains of the Ole British Empire - yet, she is clearly the most stylish of ALL the *very rich* royals, so, I chose to have her picture here - and none of the top ten braggarts! ;)

My blog - I AM THE KING HERE!

*lol*