"Perks Field, a stretch of parkland adjoining the palace, will play host to Russian dignitaries and oligarchs for 17 days in July and August.
The site will be transformed into a “Russian cultural festival” complete with a giant marquee, stage, bar and “garden lodge-style” picnic area with parasols. There will also be a “very, very important persons” entrance, according to documents lodged with Kensington and Chelsea council.
The Queen’s treasurer, Sir Alan Reid, has overseen the deal. The value of the contract has been blanked out in public documents but the deposit amount is £250,000. That deposit will be lost if the Russians breach rules which demand that nothing be done “that may affect or damage the reputation, image or standing... of the Royal family”. (AtW's comment: Russia is currently run by the man representing secret service that killed last Tsar and his family who were Royal Family's relatives. Other than that maybe the place should have been offered to Team GB free of charge.)
From 2013, the Royal Household’s spending will be cut by 14 per cent as the Civil List is replaced by an all-in-one payment, the Sovereign Support Grant, funded entirely from the Crown Estate.
Making money from the Olympics is a means of making up the £6m shortfall.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “Perks Field is being offered for rent in the summer to supplement income. It is a way of managing and adding to the budget of the Sovereign Grant over the next three years.”
Securing the royal address will be a coup for Russia, as visiting nations vie to host the most lavish corporate entertainment during the Games.
A separate application to turn Marble Arch into a £10 million party venue with a 700-capacity ice rink, as a promotion for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, was turned down recently by Westminster City Council.
Perks Field has been hired out for one-day events in the past, including a charity ball in June attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The couple use Kensington Palace as their London base and will move there permanently in 2013.
The land is close to the Russian embassy but 11 miles from the Olympic site in east London.
The application is currently under consideration by planning officers. It was submitted by Sergei Kolushev, owner of Eventica, a London-based event organiser. The Siberian-born businessman once boasted: “There is an unfair stereotype that rich Russians in Britain are all Mafia or billionaire oligarchs like Roman Abramovich. In fact, I’m just a millionaire.”
Source: Queen rents Olympic venue to Russians - Telegraph
I am sure Her Majesty is unaware of this tulip done behind Her back
The site will be transformed into a “Russian cultural festival” complete with a giant marquee, stage, bar and “garden lodge-style” picnic area with parasols. There will also be a “very, very important persons” entrance, according to documents lodged with Kensington and Chelsea council.
The Queen’s treasurer, Sir Alan Reid, has overseen the deal. The value of the contract has been blanked out in public documents but the deposit amount is £250,000. That deposit will be lost if the Russians breach rules which demand that nothing be done “that may affect or damage the reputation, image or standing... of the Royal family”. (AtW's comment: Russia is currently run by the man representing secret service that killed last Tsar and his family who were Royal Family's relatives. Other than that maybe the place should have been offered to Team GB free of charge.)
From 2013, the Royal Household’s spending will be cut by 14 per cent as the Civil List is replaced by an all-in-one payment, the Sovereign Support Grant, funded entirely from the Crown Estate.
Making money from the Olympics is a means of making up the £6m shortfall.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “Perks Field is being offered for rent in the summer to supplement income. It is a way of managing and adding to the budget of the Sovereign Grant over the next three years.”
Securing the royal address will be a coup for Russia, as visiting nations vie to host the most lavish corporate entertainment during the Games.
A separate application to turn Marble Arch into a £10 million party venue with a 700-capacity ice rink, as a promotion for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, was turned down recently by Westminster City Council.
Perks Field has been hired out for one-day events in the past, including a charity ball in June attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The couple use Kensington Palace as their London base and will move there permanently in 2013.
The land is close to the Russian embassy but 11 miles from the Olympic site in east London.
The application is currently under consideration by planning officers. It was submitted by Sergei Kolushev, owner of Eventica, a London-based event organiser. The Siberian-born businessman once boasted: “There is an unfair stereotype that rich Russians in Britain are all Mafia or billionaire oligarchs like Roman Abramovich. In fact, I’m just a millionaire.”
Source: Queen rents Olympic venue to Russians - Telegraph
I am sure Her Majesty is unaware of this tulip done behind Her back
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