Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich has lost a legal battle against French fiscal authorities after they ruled he undervalued his €100 million (£87m) Riviera retreat - once a summer idyll for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor - to pay less tax.

For the world’s 140th richest man worth $11.8 billion (£9bn), according to Forbes, it may sound petty to quibble over a €1.2m tax bill.

But Mr Abramovich has been fighting for years to reduce his wealth tax on the Château de la Croë, a vast villa on the exclusive Cap d’Antibes peninsula in the south of France known as Billionaires’ Bay. It is just one of a string of palatial residences he owns around the world, along with Eclipse, his 533-foot yacht and the world’s second-largest, which he bought for nearly $400 million in 2010.

The ruling comes after a string of setbacks for the 51-year old owner of Chelsea Football Club. In May, the Russian oligarch was ran into problems renewing his visa from the UK Home Office to live in England. He suffered a further blow last month when Switzerland turned down a residency request after police warned of "links to money laundering and organised crime" - an allegation he vehemently denies.