WITH a net worth of nearly £300billion, the Qatari royal family are all about flaunting their wealth with the finest palaces, the fastest cars and the biggest superyachts.
The ruling family with 8,000 members, which can all be traced back to the 17th century, live the life of luxury with an impressive property portfolio.
The Qataris own 95 percent of the Shard as well as Harrods, and Paris Saint Germaine Football club and have shares in companies such as Porsche, Louis Vitton and Barclays.
Whilst also snapping up rare million-pound supercars, stunning mega yachts and the best breed race horses as well as flying on their own VIP airline.
Not content with their lucrative investments, the family set about putting the country on the map by hosting some of the world’s biggest sporting events.
Qatar will hold the football World Cup this year and will host the Asian Games for the second time in 2030.
The move was met with fury among human rights campaigners after the hosts have been dogged by protests over poor conditions for stadium workers and the criminalisation of same-sex relationships.
The World Cup will see millions flock to the middle eastern country known for its crackdown on free speech and dissidents – with £173billion spent on infrastructure for the event.
The ruling family is headed by the 42-year-old Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani – who is worth £1billion alone.
Tamim took over from his father as the Emir of Qatar in 2013 after his brother renounced his claim to the title, while many of the family hold high-powered positions in the Government.
Most of the family’s wealth comes from the Qatar Investment Authority, which controls oil and gas reserves and was set up by the state in 2005.
With their earnings, the House of Thani has been able to purchase luxury homes all around the world including a stunning 43,000ft coastal mansion on the Doha coast.
The property’s stunning interior comes complete with marble floors and is filled with 18th-century art from Sotherby’s.
The royal also purchased what was once one of Britain’s most expensive mansions – Dudley House.
Located at 100 Park Lane, the £200 million property was nicknamed the ‘Sheikh Shack’ and even the Queen herself said the property made Buckingham Palace ‘look dull’.
It is thought to have taken six years to carefully refurbish the 44,000sq ft, 17-bedroom palace.
There is also a 50ft ballroom, stunning views across Hyde Park and an estimated £100m worth of furniture inside.
Other properties include a stunning Paris residence with 15 rooms and another two homes on London’s exclusive Cornwall Terrace that they attempted to turn into a ‘mega-mansion’.
Cornwall Terrace is believed to be the most expensive row of houses anywhere in the world.
The family also has an impressive collection of private jets as well as a VIP airline that caters exclusively for them, Qatar Amiri Flight.
In 2018, their private jet, thought to be worth £500 million, was put up for sale with a dining room and medical room.
On the water, the Emir owns the luxurious Al Lusail superyacht worth a whooping £400 million.
It has its own onboard beauty salon, a guest elevator and private cinema and was built a foot shorter than his father’s yacht, The Katara, as a mark of respect.
The family is not short on supercars either with one Qatari royal transporting all his pricey motors to London for the summer.
Owned by the Emir’s brother, Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the collection included a McLaren P1 worth over a £1million, a £2million Bugatti Veyron and a Porsche 918 spyder.
Pictures from 2016 show passersby stopping to gaze at the supercar collection in Knightbridge.
The Qatari prince, famous for his playboy lifestyle, caused a stir when he studied at the University of Southern California in 2011.
He arrived on a private jet with a team of servants, chauffeurs, security, a nurse, a personal trainer and even a fixer.
He frequented the Beverly Wilshire, the hotel that appeared in the movie Pretty Woman, and mixed with stars including Scott Disick from the reality show, Keeping up with the Kardashians.
The ‘heartthrob’ prince was showered with special treatment arousing suspicions over the legitimacy of his degree, a report from the Los Angeles Times alleged.
The report claimed that he had been able to skip classes and gained his master’s degree whilst never stepping foot on the campus and was allowed to study remotely.
The privilege had never been offered to anyone before or since the Prince’s time there.
A professor also claimed that when the royal submitted his final paper, the documents were sent along with a Rolex watch.
Questions over the Prince’s college degree this was not the only scandal to rock the house of Al Thani.
In May this year, Qatari Prince Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani’s ex-wife Kasia Gallanio was found dead in her Marbella home of a suspected drug overdose.
Ms Gallanio ‘s death came after she claimed the former oil and finance minister for Qatar had touched a minor in an inappropriate way.
The exiled Qatari, whose father was overthrown by his own brother in 1995, strongly denies the allegation.
In an interview before her death, the former Qatari princess said that she was ‘cursed’ by money and had ‘no freedom’ during her marriage.
An investigation by the Sunday Times in June also revealed that Prince Charles had had close dealings with the family.
King Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales, accepted three lots of cash from former Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani – totalling £2million, according to the newspaper.
Clarence House said the money had been “passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities who carried out the appropriate covenants and assured us that all the correct processes were followed”.
The prince’s meetings with Sheikh Hamad did not appear in the Court Circular, the list of official engagements undertaken by working royals.
The Qataris own a huge amount of property in London and are well-connected to the royal family through their love of horse racing.
Sheikh Fahad bin Abdullah Al-Thani, whose brother is behind the purchase of Dudley House, oversees the running of Qatar Racing and Qatar Bloodstock.
In 2016, QIPCO a private investment company owned by six members of the royal family sponsored the Ascot races.
