Calling Queen Elizabeth II as the richest royal across the globe is a passé. The list is updated by Forbes. To your much astonishment, Queen is worth $600 million that clearly puts her on eleventh position in the list of top-15 monarchs identified.
But the solace lies in her for being the world’s wealthiest female sovereign as hardly one-or-two women could only make up to the list. The top pedestal is given to the Sultan of Brunei as his royalty is worth $22 billion, which is 36 times more than the Queen’s royalty.
Below is the complete list of the top-15 royals calculated by Forbes with total worth $95 billion, wherein the proportion of Men: Women is 13:2.
1. Sultan of Brunei: Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, 61 yrs ($22 bn)
2. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi, 59 yrs ($21 bn)
3. King of Saudi Arabia: Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, 83 yrs ($19 bn)
4. Ruler from Dubai: Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 57 year ($16 bn)
5. King of Thailand: Bhumibol Adulyadej, 79 yrs ($5 bn)
6. Prince of Liechtenstein: Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein, 62 yrs ($4.5 bn)
7. King of Morocco: Mohammed IV, 44 yrs ($2 bn)
8. Prince Albert II, Prince of Monaco, 49 yrs. ($1.2 bn)
9. Emir of Qatar: Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, 55 yrs ($1 bn)
10. Prince Karim Al Husseini, 70 yrs ($1 bn)
11. The Queen of England: Elizabeth II, 81 yrs ($600 mn)
12. Emir of Kuwait: Sheikh Sabah Al Sabah, 78 yrs ($500 mn)
13. Sultan of Oman: Qaboos Bin Said, 66 yrs ($500 mn)
14. Queen of Netherlands: Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, 69 yrs ($300 mn)
15. King of Swaziland: Mswati II, 39 yrs ($200 mn)
Please see more detailed Article by Forbes (The Crowning Fortune) on Thai King's wealth here:
http://www.forbes.com/magazines/global/2008/0901/032.html
The $35 billion is misleading, since, as stated clearly in the new Forbes Article, the Bangkok real estate holdings are worth $31 billion.
Research for 2005, shows the total income of Crown Property Bureau (CPB) at $280 million (adjusted for current exchange rate). In that total, $200 million was from company dividends, and only $80 million from the real estate. This is consistent with the recent Bangkokpost citation that most of CPB's land is leased at low-priced, below market rate to state agencies, NGOs, and low-income tenants. It was also stated that only 7% of the land is leased at commercial rates. Paul Handley makes the same comment in the new Forbes Article that the CPB is not charging market rates, and that "raising them would cause serious repercussions, especially for its thousands of low-income tenants."
How much of the annual income generated by the CPB goes to charity is unknown, but I am sure a good share of it does go to charity.
So, don't treat the $35 billion figure as if it was the King's disposable income. It is not. The greater bulk, ie. $31 billion, is real estate leased cheaply to state agencies and low-income people, and most of the rest is in share holdings which are invested in the long-term (good for economic stability).
The new Forbes Article makes the point that the CPB's goal is: "to aid the country's development by investing in key industries and providing below-market-rate housing for low-income citizens."
So I think the King is using his assets wisely and for benefit of Thailand