Back in February we reported that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the sexy supermodel, singer and first lady of France, had sold her family's castle in Italy (above) to an Arab sheikh. Now the buyer, who has since been revealed as billionaire Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has relisted the historic castle with an affiliate of Christie's Great Estates with a reported asking price of about $28 million; he was said to have originally paid anywhere from $12 million - $25 million depending on sources. The 40-room, 21,000-sq.-ft. Castello di Castagneto Po, near Turin, has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over the years but is believed to first date from the year 1019. Bruni's father, the billionaire industrialist Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, bought the historic estate in 1952 for about $1.5 million. It is surrounded by 175 acres replete with vegetable gardens, orchards, flowering terraces, ancient greenhouses, a caretaker's house and a farm building.

Princess Maha al-Sudairi, the wife of Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister, is holed up in a Paris luxury hotel claiming diplomatic immunity after refusing to pay a $24 million tab she ran up at the city's ritziest boutiques. Al-Sudairi, whose husband Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz is a member of Saudi Arabia's royal family and is second-in-line to the throne, racked up the impressive debt on a year-long spree at the French capital's high-end clothing, jewelry and lingerie boutiques, the London Telegraph reports. In all some 30 businesses have been stiffed including Dior, jewelry shops Chaumet and Victoria Casal, lingerie emporium O Caprices De Lili, and the famed Hotel de Crillon.

The Princess is currently holed up in a $4,000-per-night suite at the ultra-luxe Four Seasons George V hotel (above), which is partly owned by her nephew, Prince Al Waleed bin Talal. After some of those owed money initiated legal proceedings, the plaintiffs' lawyer Jacky Benazerah obtained a court order for bailiffs to go to the George V and seize the Princess' belongings. However, the Princess has invoked diplomatic immunity and will likely refuse them entry, in which case the French interior ministry and senior police officials would have to be consulted to authorize a police escort, the BBC reports.

Jamila Boushaba, owner of Paris' O Caprices De Lili lingerie shop, located directly across from the George V, was left holding a $100,000 bill for lacy underthings. "She was a very good customer for eight years, but then simply stopped paying," Boushaba tells the Telegraph. "I made a delivery of lingerie to the George V, but payment never arrived. Every time we called, we were told the bill would be settled the next day. It never was. When we contacted the Saudi ambassador in Paris he said there was nothing he could do for us." An aide to the Saudi royal family was similarly unhelpful, sniffing, "I'm afraid we can't go around settling bills for the Princess's knickers."

Jacky Giami, proprietor of luxury clothing boutique Key Largo, said the Princess stripped his shelves of some $215,000 worth of casual wear. "We know the family well – they're in Paris a lot," Giami tells the Telegraph. "She's not the kind of customer where you ask for a deposit, or to ask to see a piece of identity." Every time the Princess and her entourage visited Giami's and others' shops a representative would offer staff an embossed card stating "Payment to Follow". And of course having all those exquisite clothes cleaned cost quite a bit as well; the Princess is also said to have run up a drycleaning bill of $50,000 - per week.

A mansion in London's posh Belgrave Square has hit the market for £100 million, or about $150 million, tying it with Candy Spelling's The Manor in Beverly Hills for the title of the world's most expensive estate (in terms of current listings). The six-floor, 21,000-sq.-ft. white-stucco-fronted building has 12 bedrooms, 20-ft. ceilings, a basement swimming pool, gym, media room, and every imaginable luxury fitting. The property has been gutted and revamped by Lebanese developer Musa Salem, the London Times reports.

Across the Square another house has recently come on the market for £80 million, or about $120 million. The eight-bedroom, 20,000-sq.-ft. house is being sold by Saudi Arabia's Juffali family, following the death of its owner. Belgrave Square is also home to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai, as well as several embassies. The Square was built for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, later the 1st Marquess of Westminster, in the 1820s and is one of the grandest in London.

The super-rich Saudi Arabian family of the world's most famous terrorist is feeling the pinch of the staggering economy, and has seen their fortune shrink by $1.3 billion over the past year, according to a new study.

Osama bin Laden's siblings own a major construction concern, headed by his brother Sheikh Tarek bin Laden (right); due to the credit crunch, they've seen their net worth fall from $8.5 billion to $7.2 billion, according to a new list of the world's richest Arabs by Dubai-based Arabian Business magazine.

Sheikh Tarek's latest project involves plans to build the world's longest suspension bridge, linking Africa with Arabia across the Bab al-Mandib (Gate of Tears), the strait connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, at a cost of $200 billion; he plans to construct two new cities, one at each end, as well.

Elsewhere on the Arabian Rich List, which does not included royalty with the exception of those whose wealth has been achieved through business dealings rather than inheritance, Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is ranked in the top spot with a $17 billion fortune, despite having lost $4 billion in the past year as well.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's new $355 million, 555-ft. Eclipse, designed to be the world's biggest, will have a military-grade missile defense system to keep the oligarch safe. My colleague Deidre Woollard first reported on initial plans for the Eclipse back in January. Now further details are emerging about the megayacht (rendering above), which when completed next summer will be 25 ft. longer than Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's 530-ft. Platinum, currently ranked as the biggest yacht in the world. Secrecy surrounds the Eclipse, but sources tell the London Times that an antiballistic missile defense system is being installed by AST, a company with close ties to both the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, where the yacht is being built, and the German defense ministry.

The Eclipse is also being equipped with armor plating surrounding the bridge and Abramovich's master suite, as well as bullet-proof windows. There's also a submarine that can be launched underwater and dive to a depth of 160 ft. that doubles as an escape pod, as well as two helicopter pads. Civilian ships are not allowed to carry weapons and so have to limit themselves to defense systems, but Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz gets around this by having his 482-ft. yacht registered as a Royal Saudi Navy vessel, said to be equipped with French-made Exocet missiles. Pirate attacks on luxury craft are on the rise of late. Abramovich owns three other megayachts already: the 377 ft. Pelorus, the 282 ft. Ecstasea and the 160 ft. Sussurro.

More bad news for the Queen of England - she has fallen to 12th place on Forbes' list of the world's richest royals. Earlier this month we reported that the value of her London residence, Buckingham Palace, had fallen by a whopping $100 million thanks to declining property values.

Now Elizabeth II is suffering the added indignity of languishing on the rich list, as her measly $650 million fortune puts her well behind the UAE's oil-rich rulers. In the No. 1 spot for the first time is King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, with a net worth of $35 billion, who apparently shot up the list as a result of admitting he was richer than previously thought.

At No. 2 is Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE and hereditary ruler of Abu Dhabi, with a net worth of $23 billion. No. 3 is King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, worth $21 billion. And Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, ruler of Dubai, clocks in at No. 5 with $18 billion. See the complete list here.

As it turns out, Saudi Arabia may have not one of the world's most lucrative resources (duh, oil) but two. Recent prospectors have set their sights on Saudi Arabian sands to dig for gold in addition to other precious metals. The first commercial prospector allowed to set up mines in Saudi Arabia is Ma'aden, which has already invested $5.5 billion in equipment and development costs. When it comes to digging for financial rewards, who knew sand could be so fertile?

[via Fortune]

Earlier this month, Superyacht Times reported that the Saudi Arabian Royal Yacht Al Yamamah was renamed Ocean Breeze and that she was rumored to have been presented as a gift to the King of Jordan. Just a few days later, Yachtspotter unearthed the listing for the yacht. She's for sale through Burgess for $34,450,000. The listing has some beautiful interior shots of this amazingly lavish 269-foot yacht. The yacht has accommodations for 28 in one master cabin, nine double cabins and four twin cabins. There is also room for 35 crew.

Hotel Chatter has a great story of the fabulous lives of crown princes. One of their spies was at the Four Seasons Hong Kong at the same time the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was staying there. Apparently the Crown Prince rented out 179 rooms  (nearly half of the hotel), had 100 Mercedes-Benzes waiting for him out front of the hotel at all times and came with thousands of pieces of luggage. The Crown Prince came and went on two private 747s.  Michael Jackson needs to make friends with this guy.

Hilton International is putting on the luxe for the new Qasr al Sharq, Hilton International's first palace hotel. The hotel, which will open in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia next month is being done up with details including crystal and porcelain china, intricate mosaics and ceilings of hand-applied gold leaf. The hotel will be home to 1,200 crystal vases designed in Italy and the beds will be dressed with 600-thread count cotton linens designed in Venice and gold-embroidered duvet covers. The 46-suite hotel is shaped like a pyramid and each suite include two bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen, private health club and Jacuzzi along with chambermaid quarters. The hotel will include two restaurants: a Versace design BiCE Italian restaurant and a Moroccan Mammounia restaurant.