The new Royals? Beckhams are richer than the Queen
They've always been treated like celebrity royalty, and now it emerges that the Beckhams are officially richer than the Queen. An academic paper studied David and Victoria's businesses, and added the marketing value of four photogenic children, to calculate that they are currently worth around £470 million.
The study was carried out by the London School of Marketing, which calculated the value of David's football revenues at £150 million, his Brand Beckham label at £70 million and Victoria's fashion ventures at £60 million. They then added in 'non-business assets' (including the marketing value of the entire family) of £190 million, to take the total to just shy of half a billion pounds.
This officially makes them worth more than the Queen, whose fortune was estimated by the Sunday Times Rich List at £340 million. To add insult to injury, the Beckhams' brand value was said to be rising by around £30 million-£40 million a year, while the Sunday Times said the Queen's assets are only up £10 million from last year. At this rate, they'll soon start to make HM look cash-strapped.
Who isn't richer than the Queen?
But before we start fashioning a new crown for this celebrity royalty, it's worth bearing in mind that in the grand scheme of things, the Queen isn't really all that wealthy. Of course compared to the rest of us she's living in the lap of luxury, but in 'Rich List' terms she's B-List. As those around her have become even more fabulously wealthy, she had gradually moved down the list.
The latest list was published in April this year, and listed the Queen as only the 302nd richest person in the UK, which is the first time she has ever fallen outside of the top 300.
And while the upper echelons of the list are occupied by the kind of business moguls that rarely get anywhere near the papers, there are several famous names that are worth more than the Queen - and even more than the Beckhams.
One of the highest ranking celebrities was Lord Sugar, with assets of £1.04 billion, and taking 101st place on the list. Beyond the business world, Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell took 154th place on the list with a combined fortune of £730 million and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber was 172nd with £650 million.
So while being richer than the Queen may sound impressive, it's not going to give the famous family the crown as the richest celebrity Brits just yet.
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