Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei Sultan of Brunei, dropped more than $24,000 on his most recent trim, the Times Online reports.

For one of the world’s richest men it is a snip, but at $24,000 it must be the most expensive haircut ever.

Worried about catching Swine Flu, the Sultan made sure that his barber didn’t mix with other passengers on the plane and hence paid £11,000 ($18,000) for a private luxury cabin for his barber.

Modestou runs a barber’s at the Dorchester hotel in Mayfair, central London, and usually charges £30 for a trim.

But the 63-year-old Sultan – one of the richest men in the world – pays the barber thousands every time he makes the 7,000 mile round trip to Brunei.

George Kadi, who works with Modestou at the Dorchester, told a client yesterday: “Ken has been cutting the hair of the sultan for 16 years.

“He goes regularly, sometimes every three or four weeks. The sultan flies him first-class at a cost of about £9,000.

Everything is paid for, hotel, luxury food. It’s a case of ‘just keep signing, that’s all’.”

Kadi said that the Sultan – whose fortune is estimated at £12billion pays Modestou with a “thick envelope” full of cash.

Via Timesonline