Royal Family `worth pounds 2.7bn'

BRITAIN'S ROYAL Family is the third-richest in Europe, with a personal fortune of pounds 2.7bn, according to a survey. And the Prince of Wales is Europe's sixth-richest royal, ahead of the Queen, ranked seventh, the EuroBusiness survey says. But Buckingham Palace dismissed the magazine's calculations as "overblown and speculative".

The survey includes valuations of the Crown Estate and Duchy of Cornwall.

"These simply cannot be counted as personal assets," said a palace spokeswoman. "The Royal Family gains no personal benefit from the Crown Estate whatsoever and to include it in the calculation is misleading. Also, although the Prince of Wales is entitled to revenues from the Duchy of Cornwall, he cannot sell its assets." The magazine lists the Windsors' assets as:

Cash and investments - pounds 520m;

Art collection - pounds 1bn;

Jewellery - pounds 130m;

Crown Estate - pounds 700m;

Duchy of Cornwall - pounds 195m;

Other property or assets - pounds 160m.

Top of the royal fortune Euro-league is Liechtenstein (pounds 3.3bn), beating Luxembourg (pounds 3bn) into second place.

Norway's Oldenburg family is the poorest of Europe's 10 reigning royal families, with cash and assets totalling pounds 90m, according to the survey.

Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands is said to be one of the world's richest women and Europe's richest royal (pounds 1.2bn).