How does the UAE monarch live, who can buy a mansion to spend the night

It is known that heads of state, most often, are not poor people at all. But there is also a special category among them that have simply fabulous states. There are quite a few of them, and the list is headed by Sheikh Khalifa Al Nahyan, the monarch of the UAE, whose family fortune is estimated at $ 150 billion. What does a person spend money on who can buy anything he wants in this world?

The sheikh lives in luxury, which is hard to imagine. In the courtyards of his residences, pools and fountains are regularly filled with premium Evian mineral water, just in case the king wants to visit one of his mansions. To be honest, the chances of this are slim — Al Nahyan's houses are located in different parts of the world and he himself does not remember them all.

Hundreds of houses, apartments and palaces around the world were purchased for various purposes. Some were liked by the sheikh, others became an investment of money, and others ... just to spend the night. Yes. the head of the UAE does not like hotels and may well buy a large and luxurious house to spend just one night in it.

In many residences, the king has never been at all, for example, at a luxury villa in Spain, near Madrid. The mansion is located 60 km from the capital and was purchased 17 years ago. Since then, 15 people have been following the order here, regularly receiving a salary. Yes, neither the sheikh himself nor his family members have ever been to the Spanish villa in all these years.

Journalists managed to get a glimpse of some rooms of the Spanish mansion from the corner of their eyes. They claim that all the appliances in the kitchen - dishwashers and stoves, are still packed in plastic wrap and have never been used. Every week, the staff changes towels with monograms of the Arab sheikh and bed linen in 11 bedrooms. It is said that the maintenance of the villa costs 565 thousand dollars every year.

Of all the British objects, the 18th century Ascot Place estate in the vicinity of the Great Windsor Park, near London, is considered the most luxurious. The sheikh bought it in 1989 from the heir to the Mercedes Benz empire, Mick Flicker. The purchase cost Khalifa some ridiculous $ 22.6 million. The neighbor of the UAE King is Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, as Windsor Palace is very close.

The king, immediately after the purchase, began to impose his own rules on the vast territory of the estate. He decided to build 150 guest cottages on the estate, each worth $ 2.5 million. But in Even money cannot solve everything in Britain, and the local authorities refused the sheikh in order not to violate the historical appearance of Ascot Place.

One of the halls of the Presidential Palace

All the king could do was to build huge reservoirs on his land, into which Evian mineral water is brought to him directly from the Alps. They say that English water is not to the taste of an Arab aristocrat, so I had to take such measures. Mineral water gushes here from fountains and fills the pools. The tanks themselves look ugly and look like multi-storey car parks.

Ascot Place Estate

In 1980, the head of the UAE purchased the Ham Gate mansion in London just to celebrate his visit to the country. They paid $ 6.3 million for it, after which they put it in order for 4 months. The work on the site caused the anger of Londoners — workers uprooted ancient trees to plant young ones in their place. But the neighbors were not outraged, since all the houses around Ham Gate were bought in order for the sheikh's guests to spend the night.

In any country in the world, the sheikh wants to eat only products produced in his native country. Such patriotism does not come cheap. It used to happen that ready meals were delivered to the sheikh by a separate plane to the Seychelles, where he deigned to rest in his seven-story palace.

Azzam Yacht

The Khalifa moves not only by air, but also by sea. The Azzam yacht, 150 meters long, was built especially for the sheikh. The construction of a luxury ocean-going vessel cost the rich man $ 615 million. The crew of the yacht, including the crew and maintenance staff, is 500 people.

Sheikh Khalifa Al Nahyan Mosque

What the Caliph could not buy for himself with his billions was health. In 2014, the monarch suffered a stroke and almost never appears in public. The king transferred his powers to Crown Prince Muhammad ibn Zayed Al Nahyan, who in a few years became the most popular ruler in the history of the UAE.

In order for everyone present to see the newlyweds equally well, a stadium was built for the ceremony for $ 22 million. The billionaire did not need gifts, so he generously presented all the guests with valuable gifts. The musicians who entertained the guests were not forgotten either. One of the African performers who wrote a song for the wedding received a red sports Mercedes from the prince.