The 10 Richest Royal Families In Europe

Royalty has always captivated audiences, not just in Europe, but across the globe. Their wealth and grandeur are enough to pique the interest of almost anyone. But how exactly do the royal families of Europe both acquire and maintain their vast wealth? This is why the following list of the five richest royal families, listed by the name of the top monarch in said family, has been compiled.

King Carl XVI Gustaf

King Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden, and the longest reigning monarch in Sweden’s history. He’s been king since 1973. King Carl has a current net worth of $70 million, far surpassing that of many other royals. He might look familiar to you, as year after year, he presents the Nobel Prizes and also takes part in the Polar Music Prizes. The Swedish royal family is the richest and arguably most glamorous in Scandinavia, but they also give other families a run for their money; coming in as the fifth richest royal family in Europe. Gustaf himself reportedly has investments in industry, agriculture, trade, technology, environment and automobiles. The family has use of a 600 room palace in Stockholm, but Carl and his wife Sylvia reportedly live in Drottningholm Palace, which is somewhat smaller. However, in total, the royal family can stay in any one of their eleven palaces that are spread across the beautiful country of Sweden. Gustaf’s family has some very fancy properties that are not connected to the state, including their summer home, Solliden Palace, on the Baltic Islands.

Queen Margrethe II

Queen Margrethe II is the Queen of Denmark and is well-loved by both the people of her country and those who follow royal families. She’s known to be an intelligent, hands-on queen that genuinely cares about the people of her country. Some would argue that her salary is reflective of that. The Danish Civil List pays the royal family about a million dollars a month or about $12.7 million dollars a year. The money is split between family members; for example, the queen’s sister gets 1.5% per month. The money mainly covers the costs incurred with running all royal operations and the Queen’s activities. To add to her wealth, the entire royal art collection belongs to the Queen’s personal collection, even if they are on public display. Another fun fact: while a number of the Royal Family’s palaces are property of the state, some of the palaces are the Royal Family’s personal property.

King Harald V

The current king of Norway, King Harald V has a net worth of around $30 million dollars. Unfortunately for him, this makes him one of the poorest reigning royals, but is somewhat to be expected since they are one of the newest royal families in Europe. However, this royal family has little to complain about. The family has a private yacht called K/S Norge, two private mansions in Oslo, a property in Brazil and a Royal Train. King Harald was crowned in 1991, but prior to that, he was an Olympian, playing in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo on the Norwegian yachting team, a role he’d reprise at the Olympics in 1968 and 1972. Each year, King Harald gets a $15 million grant from the Norwegian government but that money also has to be used to pay for Crown Prince Haakon and his wife Mette-Marit’s expenses and activities.

King Felipe VI

It’s reported that King Felipe’s wealth is relatively small compared to his European counterparts, with his net worth coming in around $7 million. Spain pays the royal family in a lump sum (around $7-$9 million each year) that is paid out in different amounts to the king, queen and other family members. King Felipe IV takes a yearly salary from the country of Spain, coming in at about $267,000. In 2015, he cut his own salary by 20% (a loss of about $66,000!) in an effort to be more transparent and to improve the image of the Spanish monarchy, who had previously been known for their very lavish purchases and lifestyle. King Felipe VI may not be the richest royal on this list, but he and wife, Queen Letizia do have a nice consolation prize: they have the biggest castle: the Palacio Real. This palace has 3,418 rooms-compare that to Buckingham palace, which has only 722 rooms! However, while they do have access to Palacio Real it is now mainly used for ceremonial functions so King Felipe VI and his wife actually live in the somewhat smaller Zarzuela Palace in Madrid.

King Philippe

King Philippe of Belgium has held the title of king for far less time than any other royal on this list, being crowned in 2013 after his father’s abdication. He has a US tie, earning his master’s degree in Political Science from Stanford University. Interestingly enough, there are very few recent reports on what the King of Belgium makes. It’s reported that the king is worth about $14 million. The Belgian Civil List covers all the king’s expenses, which in 2013 topped off at nearly $15 million. As for all of the fabulous palaces and castles, those are either owned by the State or the Royal Trust. Royal Trust properties cannot be sold as the trust is financially independent and separate from Belgium’s government. We’re sure the family also enjoys going on the former King Albert’s beautiful yacht, which is worth about $2 million.

Prince Hans Adam II

Officially the Prince of Lichtenstein, Prince Hans Adams II is considered to be the eighth richest monarch in the world and the richest monarch in all of Europe. Lichtenstein is a predominantly German-speaking country also influenced in many ways by the actions of Germany itself. He is estimated to be worth more than 3.5 billion dollars as of the last recording. His wealth is largely from the Prince of Lichtenstein Foundation. This is a group of privately owned companies, art collections, and even museums owned by the Princely Family of Lichtenstein. These private companies and other enterprises include, but are not limited to, food producer RiceTec, Real Estate Administration Vienna, Liechtenstein Energie GmbH & Co KG, and LGT Group which is a private banking company. The profits from each Princely Family enterprise is used to conduct his stately duties as well as those of family acting on his behalf.

Continue reading to learn about a not-quite German connection on this list.

Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis

Prince Albert is considered to be the twelfth prince of Thurn and Taxis. Shockingly, he appeared on Forbes list of international billionaires at only eight years old because of his family name. He then officially inherited his vast wealth upon turning eighteen years old. He owns over thirty-five thousand hectares of land throughout Germany, one of many ways his wealth is assessed, and also owns an extensive real estate portfolio as well as a very vast art collection. As of the most recent recording, it is estimated that Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis is worth more than 1.5 billion dollars. In addition to his vast wealth, Prince Albert enjoys racing cars in his spare time.

Ready to move onto a Grand Duke? Keep reading!

Grand Duke Henri

Monarch Grand Duke Henri is the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He has been in power as the Grand Duke since 2000 when his father, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, stepped down and passed stately duties on to his son. Since his rule began, the country has seen widespread economic growth. Many credit Henri with carrying out this feat by bringing the nation into the twenty-first century while still maintaining the small nation's rich history.

He is a very well educated man, even studying in the United States for a stint before officially graduating from the University of Geneva in 1980 with a political science degree that served him very well as ruler just two decades later. The biggest reason for the financial prosperity of the small European nation is they have very relaxed banking laws which means they are a magnet for very high net worth individuals to store their money without having to pay as much tax as in their home nation. It is estimated the monarch is worth more than three billion dollars in total. His wealth comes from both privates ownership in a variety of entities, as well as receiving an allowance from the government of up to 250,000 dollars as well as paying upwards of ten million dollars every single year to upkeep the home of the Grand Duke and allow him to perform his stately duties.

Continue reading to learn about perhaps the most famous royal family in the world.

Queen Elizabeth II

The queen of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II, is said to be worth more than five hundred million dollars. But how exactly has she acquired this wealth and how is it maintained? First, the queen owns a great deal of land in the nation including Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands. She also owns a farm that raises horses and is one of the most lavish fruit farms in Europe, as well as a great deal of coastal land. In addition to this, the royal family owns an extensive art collection. The queen also receives an annual stipend from the government to the tune of almost thirteen million dollars per year. This money is intended to be used to host foreign dignitaries and carry out her royal duties as she sees fit. This stipend is annually distributed from the queen to her children and grandchildren or any other royal family member who carries out duties on her behalf. One of the more interesting aspects of her net worth is one of the largest stamp collections in the world, which is carefully maintained by the royal staff. The stamp collection was started by her grandfather, a former United Kingdom ruler, long before the queen herself was even born.

Ready for the final queen of the list? Keep going:

Queen Beatrix

The Queen of Netherlands has been in power since her mother gave up the throne back in 1980. Her net worth is estimated to be upwards of two hundred million dollars. Recently, she is most well known for bringing a bit of peace between political leaders that had previously grown a large divide in the Netherlands among major parties. The queen makes her money from the export of products from the nation, real estate holdings in her name are the main reasons for her wealth. In addition to these physical assets, she owns a great deal of stock in a highly diversified portfolio which has done very well during the current economic recovery. The Netherlands government also gives the royal family an annual taxpayer-funded stipend of up to 31 million euros for carrying out royal duties. This money is to be split between the queen and her extended family so they can also perform duties on her behalf.