Dancing with the New Tsars: Newly rich Russians invade London, throw UK elite into royal tizzy

With their tricked-out yachts, trained servants and diamond-frosted toys, newly rich Russians have invaded London - and thrown Britain's elite into a royal tizzy - reports Conservative researcher and activist Clare Foges in these few excerpts from a long feature article.

After Perestroika ... Russia's economy spluttered and lurched as the old capitalist machine warmed up again after seven repressive decades of communism. These days, though, it is lubricated by a seemingly endless torrent of oil and natural gas, leaving the nation's elite awash in money. ...

Around 200,000 Russians now live in London (a sizable colony in a population of 7.5 million), and of these, around a tenth are those who would be considered super-wealthy. They come here in large part because of a lax tax law that allows "non-domiciled residents" to escape paying revenue on the mountains of money they bring into Britain. Much to the consternation of the upper-class old guard, they are just the latest wave of flashy, filthy-rich foreigners to crash into London, following in the wake of the oil-rich Saudis of the 1970s and '80s and the Japanese businessmen of the '90s. ...

You're most likely to catch one of these gaudy butterflies at the high-class events that constitute English society's summer season - Wimbledon, Henley Royal Regatta, Cartier Polo, Glorious Goodwood - where they'll be dressed in the best Versace, Dolce and Gabbana or Cavalli, and causing a stir among the old guard. "Events like Henley and Goodwood are seen as epicenters of Englishness, so it's seriously obvious when the Russians invade," says Sophie Sharpe, a full-time socialite on the London scene and a veteran of the top events. "They're pretty flash with their cash on the horses, on the alcohol - on everything really. They come along with these huge jeroboams of vodka and ludicrous amounts of caviar and it's a bit in-your-face." ...

While most of the English afford the rich Russians a filigree of courtesy, behind their backs there are plenty of sniggers. Most wealthy Russians are well aware of this quiet snobbery, says [Russian-born, British-educated] Ilya Taranto: "Basically, any friction comes down to an old-fashioned conflict between English traditional conservatism and Russian decadence." It's a conflict that has repercussions far outside elite high society circles, argues the Russian ambassador to Britain, Yuri Fedotov. Last year the diplomat caused a storm by claiming that hostile feeling toward Russians in London was so strong that his countrymen were being refused service in shops, restaurants and taxis. "From time to time Russians in London encounter some sort of mistreatment," he said. "It is hard to say whether it is some kind of Russophobia or whether it is a particular case of xenophobia which is developing here."