Hurl yourself to Belgravia

Harry Phibbs5 April 2012
The Weekender

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Belgravia has always been hugely posh, but not, perhaps, with the glamorous dash of Chelsea or Mayfair. Populated by City bankers, retired ambassadors and other Establishment types, Belgravia has a feeling of solid, almost severe, affluence, rather than extravagance.

But now that actress and model Elizabeth Hurley has bought a £5 million house off Eaton Square, the mood of the area is changing.

Liz is now a near neighbour of David Blunkett, who lives in the property reserved for the Home Secretary.

He joins a list of politicians who have made Belgravia their home, including Enoch Powell, who happily listed his address in the telephone directory, and Michael Howard. With the amount of police permanently on duty in the area, the chances of Liz being burgled are slim.

Belgravia is not as groovy as Chelsea, where 38-year-old Liz used to share a house in Redcliffe Road with Hugh Grant, let alone Los Angeles, where she has spent most of the past few years.

But even before Liz's arrival, Belgravia was already shedding its fusty image. Nigella Lawson blazed the trail when she abandoned Shepherd's Bush to move in with Charles Saatchi in Eaton Square.

No doubt if Liz pops over, Charles will play his joke of showing her a special bedroom with Tracey Emin's unmade bed in it, declaring in mock outrage: "God! I always tell the nanny to clear up after herself !"

Other Belgravia residents include Baroness Thatcher and Andrew Lloyd Webber in Chester Square.

Chelsea Football Club boss and Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, the actor Roger Moore, Leonora Countess of Lichfield, Princess Alexandra's brother-inlaw, James Ogilvy, and carpet magnate Lord Harris live in Eaton Square. As does the Duke of Westminster, who owns most of Belgravia.

"It's an undervalued area in some ways," says Rebecca Read of estate agent Cluttons.

"People think it will be too expensive and get scared off, but it is not as pricey as Mayfair. The streets are much wider than elsewhere in London, which means there are decent-sized gardens and a feeling of privacy.

People tend to make their home there, unlike the more transient Knightsbridge. And it is much quieter than Chelsea, where you have shoppers parking outside your house all the time while they visit King's Road.

"Popping into the new Waitrose in Halkin Street is like going to a cocktail party. I always bump into clients when I go there and the staff are frightfully polite."

Liz enjoys eating out. When she lived in Redcliffe Road she used to visit the cluster of restaurants in nearby Hollywood Road. She once called Formula Veneta "divine", adding that its owner, Gianni Pauro, will cook spaghetti carbonara (not on the menu) "if you flirt with him outrageously".

Liz has also declared that the ricotta cheese ravioli at San Lorenzo, in Knightsbridge, makes her go "weak at the knees just thinking about it".

In her new home she has plenty of choice. She is very near to La Poule au Pot, a French restaurant on the junction of Pimlico Road and Ebury Street, which would be most suitable for discreet dinners.

Blunkett dined with former immigration minister Beverley Hughes there three days before she announced her resignation.

When she is in a livelier mood, Liz may head in the other direction to the Scottish restaurant Boisdale in Eccleston Street. It has a cocktail bar with the largest collection of malt whiskies in London and live jazz music until the early hours.

With the "end of Empire" décor of a faded country house, Boisdale has become fashionable with young people tired of dreary modernity. It is owned by Ranald Macdonald, whose father heads the one-and-a-half-million-strong Clan Ranald.

Given that Liz has a particular weakness for Italian food she might like to try Il Convivio in Ebury Street, which Chelsea Clinton favours for romantic dinners.

For a quick bite Liz could go to the Ebury Wine Bar where the food on offer includes ostrich. Tophams restaurant offers traditional elegance at the other end of Ebury Street.

As far as the shops are concerned, the area has some gems. Liz has a sweet tooth and so might be tempted by The Chocolate Society in Elizabeth Street. Unfortunately, the Chatsworth Food Shop in the same street has closed.

For shoes she could pop to Emma Hope in Sloane Square, or for a necklace there's jeweller Erickson Beamon in Ebury Street. If she finds Belgravia has too much peace and quiet, then Sloane Street and King's Road are a short trip away.

What about her two-year-old son Damian's education? A short stroll into Pimlico along Belgrave Road leads to the Young England Kindergarten, where Diana, Princess of Wales, used to work.

If Liz wanted to save a few bob after splashing out on the house, there is an excellent state primary school, St Peter ' s Eaton Square, in Lower Belgrave Street.

Parents who sent their children there include Loyd Grossman, presenter of Through the Keyhole, author Katie Hickman and former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten.

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