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Unlike most celebrities, members of royal families are usually discouraged from flagrant excess and public indulgence. While it's widely known that they’re some of the wealthiest people in the world and live in immense luxury, they also have a duty to their people and must maintain the reputation of the royal institution.
This is why it’s so fascinating when the odd receipt for an absurd purchase makes its way into the wrong hands! These little insights tell us where your consumerist heart might take you if you had all the money in the world…
Click through the following gallery for a look into some of the most extravagant expenses of royals from around the world.
In 1920, the Maharaja of Alwar (a princely state in India) visited a Rolls Royce showroom in London and was not impressed with the service. He was insulted after allegedly being ignored by the salesmen. He left the store and returned later that day with a plan.
The Maharaja purchased seven Rolls Royces, on the condition that the salesman who had insulted him escort the cars back to India. When the cars arrived at his home, he ordered that they all be used to collect garbage. He certainly made his point!
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has been putting part of her US$40 million fortune towards planning for her future in a rather morbid way. The monarch commissioned a respected Danish artist to begin building her coffin back in 2003.
Sculptor Bjørn Nørgaard worked on the unusual structure for 15 years before finally completing it in 2018. The coffin cost an estimated US$5 million and is sitting in St. Birgittas Chapel in Roskilde Cathedral, waiting for the Queen’s death.
The Sultan of Brunei is one of the richest monarchs in the world, worth a reported US$20 billion. He’s also a collector of luxury cars. It’s estimated that he owns more than 7,000 cars worth around a total of US$5 billion.
One of the most extravagant vehicles in his collection is a Rolls Royce coated in 24 karat gold, which he used on the day of his wedding.
In 2008, late Queen Elizabeth purchased the sizable Bath Road Retail Park. The park is visible from the nearby Windsor Castle, although it probably wasn’t the most scenic vista at her disposal!
Queen Elizabeth dropped an enormous US$122 million to purchase the retail park. British newspapers were tickled to report that the Queen of England technically owned a McDonald’s drive-through.
The property was sold at the beginning of 2023.
The Golden Jubilee Diamond is worth an estimated US$4 million. It was given to King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the 50th anniversary of his coronation, and is now owned by his son, the eccentric King Rama X.
The royal family of Qatar holds the record for the second most expensive piece of artwork ever purchased. It was the most expensive at the time they bought the painting back in 2012, but the cool US$250 million they paid has since been surpassed.
The painting in question is Cezanne’s ‘The Card Players.’ The Qatari royals are known as some of the top art buyers in the world in terms of the amount of money they put down. The family has been aiming to develop the country’s artistic culture for many years.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman owns what is arguably the most expensive home in the world. His US$300 million French chateau near Versailles was made on the grounds of a run-down 19th-century chateau and took three years to build. The enormous property now has smart home capabilities throughout.
Incredibly, the building itself is not as valuable as its contents. The Prince also owns the most expensive painting in the world: Leonardo da Vinci's ‘Salvator Mundi.’ He purchased it at auction for a whopping US$450 million (it’s worth noting that some experts aren’t convinced the painting is a real da Vinci!).
The Netherlands is a fairly small nation compared to many of its European neighbors. The Dutch royal family is also quite small compared to other European royal families, but their expenses are comparatively high! In fact, they are the most expensive royal family in Western Europe.
For example, the Spanish royal family is three times the size of the Dutch royal family, but the Dutch royal family spends four times as much as them per year. Their expenses are even higher than that of the British royal family.
The current ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid al Maktoum, married his senior wife and consort in 1979. He threw the most expensive wedding in history. It lasted for a week, and five days of public holiday were declared.
A new stadium capable of holding his 20,000 guests was built just to host the event. The Sheikh hired 34 private jets just to transport his guests. The wedding cost US$137 million (twice as much as Prince William and Kate Middleton’s 2011 wedding).
When members of the British royal family travel, they don’t choose low-cost airlines. Naturally, they require private transport and lodgings for their own safety. However, it's still hard to imagine how Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles’ 2019 tour of the Caribbean cost more than half a million dollars.
The royal couple spent 12 days touring the islands of the Caribbean taking part in various public engagements, including a cocktail making class. They continued traveling to other parts of the world on their tour, bringing the total cost of the trip up to US$1 million.
The Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) is a small African nation with less than 1.2 million inhabitants. Most of these people live on less than US$1 per day. Their royal family, however, enjoys a much more lavish existence. In 2014, an activist group called SwaziLeaks exposed the outrageous spending of the impoverished country’s leaders.
King Mswati III has 15 wives and 20 children. He reportedly purchased 19 Rolls Royces for himself and his wives. He is also known to have thrown impressive birthday parties for his many children, including a party in an aquarium in Dubai.
If there’s one thing we could rely on when the late Queen Elizabeth II made a public appearance, it was that she would be wearing an elaborate hat and holding a small leather handbag. While her handbags were usually the most understated parts of her colorful looks, she didn't scrimp on her accessories.
Monaco is a tiny but wealthy country, synonymous with luxury and affluence. It’s no secret that the royal family of Monaco is one of the richest in Europe. One of their many extravagances is the expansive car collection started by Prince Rainier III in the 1950s.
Prince Rainier III (widower of Grace Kelly) purchased a wide range of luxury cars including the racing cars from the Monaco Grand Prix, which are some of the most expensive vehicles in the world. In 1993, he decided to share his incredible collection with the world, and opened the Monaco Top Cars Collection, also known as the Collection Privée des Voitures de S.A.S. le Prince de Monaco.
King Rama X of Thailand has a reputation for being eccentric and extravagant in equal measure. He has been known to indulge in his love of dogs, and once traveled on a private jet with 30 poodles. He even made one an air marshal. Needless to say, no expenses are spared when it comes to his extensive collection of purebred pooches.
Sources: (Insider 1 and 2) (Ranker) (The Guardian) (South China Morning Post)
See also: Who are the richest royals in the world?
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CELEBRITY Royalty
Unlike most celebrities, members of royal families are usually discouraged from flagrant excess and public indulgence. While it's widely known that they’re some of the wealthiest people in the world and live in immense luxury, they also have a duty to their people and must maintain the reputation of the royal institution.
This is why it’s so fascinating when the odd receipt for an absurd purchase makes its way into the wrong hands! These little insights tell us where your consumerist heart might take you if you had all the money in the world…
Click through the following gallery for a look into some of the most extravagant expenses of royals from around the world.