Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Prince Albert II is one of the wealthiest royals in the world, with assets valued at more than $1 billion, which include land in Monaco and France. Although Prince Albert does not own the Prince's Palace of Monaco, he does own shares in the "Société des bains de mer de Monaco", which operates Monaco's casino and other entertainment properties in the principality.
Monaco
The plan for casino gambling was drafted during the reign of Florestan I in 1846. Under Louis-Philippe's petite-bourgeois regime, however, a dignitary such as the Prince of Monaco was not allowed to operate a gambling house. All this changed in the dissolute Second French Empire under Napoleon III. The House of Grimaldi was in dire need of money. The towns of Menton and Roquebrune, which had been the main sources of income for the Grimaldi family for centuries, were now accustomed to a much improved standard of living and lenient taxation thanks to Sardinian intervention and clamored for financial and political concession, even for separation. The Grimaldi family hoped the newly legal industry would help alleviate the difficulties they faced, above all the crushing debt the family had incurred, but Monaco's first casino would not be ready to operate until after Charles III assumed the throne in 1856.