THE PALACE OWNER

Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, (40), a cousin of the emir, owns Dudley House,

London’s only surviving aristocratic palace that still functions as a private, single-family home.

Hamad restored the palace, valued at around $400 million, to its former glory and Queen Elizabeth herself, over supper at the 17-bedroom residence, remarked that “this place makes Buckingham Palace look rather dull”.

Dudley House is “run like

Downton Abbey”, said the late Lady Elizabeth Anson, the late queen’s cousin and once England’s most exclusive events planner.

“At 6pm, the staff change into white tie and tails. But [the sheikh] is not showing off. He has no need to show off. He just does things in the style of the house – in the way you saw things done up until the war,” she said.