Crossword Genius

A rich royal played in town (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

charleroi

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'played in town' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'a rich royal' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'royal' could be 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina) and 'er' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for charleroi that I've seen before include "Belgian place" , "somewhere near Brussels" , "European location" , "in Belgium" , "Belgian city" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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