Affluent neighbours of Kensington Palace have lodged formal objections to plans by Burberry to stage a London Fashion Week show on Perks Field, a stretch of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s private garden, citing concerns about traffic, noise and litter.
Burberry has applied to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for permission to erect a marquee opposite Kensington Palace Gardens — an area often referred to as "Billionaires’ Row" — for a show this month. Objections to the planning application have been filed by a local residents’ association and by the High Commissioner of India, among others, the Daily Mail reported.
Those objecting said a star-studded event would increase traffic and noise in a densely residential and diplomatic area and would bring an uptick in litter. The High Commissioner of India, according to the report, requested that noise be kept to an "acceptable level" because the property "frequently hosts diplomatic engagements."
Burberry told the paper it had consulted the Royal Household, the Crown Estate and local residents in advance of submitting the application. The company has previously staged shows on Perks Field, in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and the site has in recent years been used for other commercial events including a multi-million-pound racehorse auction.
Some neighbours described the proposed event as an example of "growing commercialisation" of the green space. One complainant told the Daily Mail that fashion shows of the sort planned were "intrusive" for the enclave, which sits opposite the private, high-value residences of Kensington Palace Gardens.
The dispute over use of land adjacent to the palace comes against a backdrop of other long-running tensions in the neighbourhood. The newspaper noted a protracted conflict between residents and Jon Hunt, founder of Foxtons estate agency, over extensive renovations to his property, including plans that at one point featured an underground carousel for classic cars.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea will consider the application and the formal objections as part of the planning process. The timing of any decision was not disclosed in the report.
The Daily Mail’s gossip column that reported the planning dispute also ran a series of shorter celebrity items, including that Robbie Williams has been linked to property searches in the Cotswolds; that David Beckham paid a premium price for a punnet of Japanese grapes at a Notting Hill grocer; that chef Gordon Ramsay’s daughter Holly is reportedly engaged to Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty and that expensive items topped their wedding list; and that singer Harry Styles and actress Zoe Kravitz were seen together in Rome. The column also said pop star Dua Lipa and actor Johnny Depp have been recent patrons of a Notting Hill pub.
Representatives for Burberry and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea had not issued further public comment beyond the statement that the company had engaged with landowners and local parties. The outcome of the planning application and any mitigations to address the objections remain pending.