A tiny country in Europe is one of the continent’s smallest but has one of the richest royal families.
Liechtenstein, which sits between Austria and Switzerland, is Europe’s fourth-smallest country at just 100 miles squared.
The small Alpine nation of just 39,000 inhabitants makes much of its money through managing the wealth of some of the world’s richest people.
The country’s monarch is the wealthiest in Europe, with an estimated worth of £7.52billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
For context, the UK’s royal family came in fourth with an estimated fortune of £379million to £454million. Britain’s monarchy came behind Luxembourg and Monaco.
Liechtenstein’s monarch, Prince Hans-Adam II receives an untaxed token expense allowance of £214,193 in lieu of a salary, Business Insider said.
Though this seems like a small sum, the family reportedly has such a large fortune due to its privately owned bank, LGT Group, and investments made through the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation, which oversees real estate, forest, and winery assets.
The prince owns 20,000 hectares of land in Austria, used for wood production, growing grain, a nature reserve and hunting and fishing grounds.
Prince Hans-Adam II was born in 1945 and ascended to the throne in 1989, five years after becoming his father Prince Franz Joseph II’s regent.
Hereditary Prince Alois is his father’s heir and has acted as his regent since 2004. Prince Hans-Adam’s second son, Prince Maximilian, is now CEO and President of LGT Group.
The prince’s youngest son, Prince Constantin, has been CEO of the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation since 2012, while their daughter Princess Tatjana lives quietly with her family in Austria.
