...To the private jet set

While Eleanor Doughty tours modern Belgravia, home to international plutocrats

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The universe according to Bubbles Rothermere was simple: ‘The world ends at Eaton Square on the east, west, and south – and goes to Wilton Crescent on the north.’

So recalls lawyer David Cooper of his late friend, wife of the late Viscount Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail – whose house in Eaton Square, Belgravia, was once described as a ‘Mecca for fun-lovers’. Asked about neighbouring Chester Square, Bubbles said, ‘Oh yes, that’s staff accommodation.’

Today, Belgrave Square is a busy roundabout, the meeting point of Pont Street, Belgrave Place and Grosvenor Crescent. Embassies inhabit many of the stucco-fronted houses, once the London homes of aristocrats. In the distance, the roar of a dozen Lamborghinis can be heard. The handsome streets remain popular – though you’d be hard-pressed to find any full-time residents.

Cooper is one last surviving resident. He bought his house in Wilton Crescent in 1988. ‘The last [person with a] UK domicile to have done so,’ he says. ‘It’s become a dormitory.’

It’s the eerie calm of Belgravia that attracts legions of international buyers. ‘My Russian clients say [they choose Belgravia] because there’s no state school, no bus, no tube,’ says Cooper.

Once there were fewer Russians, Greeks and Chinese, and more English – with titles such as Burlington and Bathurst. Rose Laycock spent part of her childhood at 1A Belgrave Square, the house of her American grandmother, Mary Mirrielees.