Unlike the Crown Estate, the Qatari royal family’s London properties are entirely private assets. With an estimated collective wealth of £2.4 billion, their holdings are worth a staggering sum. The family’s leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, alone is estimated to be worth £1.6 billion.

Reports indicate that most of the Al-Thani family’s residences are concentrated in northwest Mayfair, an area so heavily associated with them that property insiders have nicknamed it “Little Doha.”

A quarter of this exclusive neighborhood is now said to be owned by the Qatari royals, including the UK’s most expensive private residence. This 44,000-square-foot mansion was valued at £400 million a decade ago, according to Vanity Fair.

The late Queen Elizabeth is even said to have quipped that it made Buckingham Palace “look rather dull” by comparison.

An Expansive London Empire

The family’s 1.8 million square feet of real estate holdings also include some of the city’s most prestigious hotels: The Berkeley, Claridge’s, The Connaught, and The Emory. Their portfolio extends to major landmarks like The Shard, a co-ownership of Canary Wharf, and a 20 percent stake in Heathrow Airport.

Not a bad set of keys to hold in the capital.