Move over Royal Family. London’s oligarchs are the new tourist attraction

‘And if you look to your left you will see a house once linked to Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakhstan’s former intelligence chief, who died in police custody in Austria while awaiting charges of corruption, torture and murder.’ These apartments form the final stop in London’s new unmissable attraction, the London Kleptocracy Tour. The tour is a Beverley Hills-type guide around the houses of the colourful oligarchs of the Former Soviet Union who have bought up London’s super super prime properties with the help of the capital’s lawyers, estate agents and PR firms.

The tour takes in such obvious classics as One Hyde Park, Kensington Palace Gardens (the oligarchs apparently love the received kudos from being so near to the Royal Family as well as the no photography rule enforced by the nearby embassies) and Belgrave Square. Lesser known spots include an apartment overlooking the Houses of Parliament worth 100 times the annual salary of the serving Russian minister whose name appears on the title deeds.