Research shows London is now home to the world's super rich

The capital, which is home to 7.4 million people, is also home to 23 of the world's richest people.

With this tally, London was named yesterday as the 'unchallenged magnet' for the world's billionaires.

No other city holds such a captivating power over people who have enough money to live in a palace anywhere that they choose.

They could live in New York, Geneva, Sydney or Bombay, but they prefer London, according to research by Forbes magazine.

New York has 34, but most of the people with 10-figure fortunes are American.

London, by contrast, has the most international rich set.

In the capital, there are a few home-grown billionaires, such as Sir Richard Branson, 56, the serial entrepreneur, but most of them were born hundreds of miles away.

Paul Maidment, the author of the Forbes report, said: 'Many cities vie for the title of the world's capital.

'But London still attracts the elite of the world's rich and successful. And it can lay claim unchallenged to one title: it is the magnet for the world's billionaires.'

The richest person - whose wealth completely overshadows the Queen's fortune - is the Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, 55, worth £13 billion.

This is a man who can afford to buy a £70 million mansion in a street in London nicknamed Billionaire's Row, and not even live it in full-time.

A few years ago, 1,200 people were invited to his daughter Vanisha's £30 million wedding, held at the finest chateau and garden in France, the 17th-century Vaux le Vicomte.

His wealth is so vast that it is bigger than the entire economic output of many African countries.

His rival for the crown of London's richest is Roman Abramovich who has only just turned 40 but still has a fortune worth £10 billion.

It is an extraordinary achievement for a man who was orphaned at the age of four and then dropped out of college.

He owns not just Chelsea football club, but also a large chunk of west London's most expensive homes.

Mr Abramovich is thought to have spent nearly £50 million on property in the most exclusive boroughs, mostly a short walk from Harrods.

And why has the capital become such a magnet for the super-rich?

Mr Maidment said: 'London is not only discreet. It is also safe and politically stable.

'Politicians and bureaucrats are not corrupt. The courts work. Property rights are protected. There are elegant shops, luxurious private clubs and good schools for the children.

'All expensive enough to keep the riff-raff at bay.'

One of the biggest influences has been on the capital's soaring property market.

It is thanks to the foreign billionaires, and their less successful alternatives, the millionaires, that the average price of a home in the exclusive borough of Kensington & Chelsea is now over £1 million.

Every day, nearly 20 homes are sold in England and Wales for £1 million or more, according to the Land Registry. Many are sold to foreign buyers.

Linda Beaney, who runs the Chelsea estate agents Beaney Pearce, said she regularly deals with international clients who want to buy in London.

She said: 'They have a minimum of three houses around the world, but possibly up to seven or eight.'

Recent sales include a 'quite modest' £7 million home in Kensington which has seven bedrooms but only 'a titchy patch of garden.'

Even flats sell for £5 million or £6 million, and they are 'not even penthouses.'

Liam Bailey, head of residential research at the estate agents Knight Frank, said foreign buyers have pushed up prices for 'top end' country houses too.

He said: 'Over the last year, prices for top end country houses have gone up 12 to 15 per cent, largely due to competition from foreign buyers.'

Knight Frank's figures show the price of a manor house has gone up an extraordinary £26,671 every month for the last 12 months.

For many, the attractions of London are simple - they do not pay much tax.

In fact, they pay less tax than many workers who earn a fraction of their multi-billion pound fortunes.

Mike Warburton, senior tax partner at the accountants Grant Thornton, said: 'The UK is a tax haven - and long may that remain.

'It has helped to attract in such a great deal of wealth and enterprise.'