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Streets of Knightsbridge are jammed with Arab-owned supercars
This heavily-modified gold Range Rover - estimated to be worth more than £150,000 - has attracted attention after its owner parked it outside the Wellesley hotel
A number of the supercars have been spotted with parking tickets while others have been driving around with incorrect registration plates. But despite residents dreading 'The Season', there is one group of people salivating at the supercars and leaping to the defence of the drivers - the Carparazzi.
When the wealthy Arabs arrive in London, car enthusiasts show up with their cameras to film and photographer the million-pound motors.
Paul Wallace, who runs the YouTube channel Supercars of London, played down their bad behaviour. He said: 'August always proves to be the best time of year for petrolheads to see their dream machines on the road.
'Having seen the change in driving styles and cars, I still can't believe the police presence and residents kicking up a fuss. For four weeks out of 52, these super-wealthy individuals come and pump millions of pounds into the UK economy.
'Not only that, they fulfil many car fan's dream by bringing super rare Bugatti Veyrons, or special edition Paganis. I feel sorry for these guys coming here with their expensive toys as they get harassed by police.'
He added: 'I have been filming all summer and rarely see them drive more than 25 per cent throttle, or make any noise at all.
'I don't see why the residents of Knightsbridge don't use this influx in foreign cars as an excuse to go on holiday and escape one of the busiest, loudest cities in the world for a couple of weeks of the year.'
Previous summers have seen expensive cars clamped outside department store Harrods, towed for being uninsured and locals complain about being kept awake by revving engines.
Westminster council has revealed the parking fines handed out to cars registered in the United Arab Emirates has nearly doubled in the last three years.
A Qatari millionaire has brought this yellow Mercedes AMG with him for his holiday in Britain and parked the machine outside Harrods yesterday
Cars from the Middle-Eastern country were given a whopping £57,060-worth of fines last year, up from just £31,780 in 2011/12.
Fears have been raised that drivers feel they can flout the rules either because they can easily afford the penalties, or because they know they'll be able to move home and ignore the fines.
A Westminster City Council spokesman said: 'We do all we can to ensure that all outstanding fines are paid – whatever the nationality of the driver.
'However, when cars aren't registered in this country, it is sometimes extremely difficult to track people down.
'We already work with an agency to help recover money owed by European drivers and we're currently exploring other avenues that might further our success. The start and end point here is that every driver who parks in Westminster is subject to the same laws.'
A policeman approaches a modified black and gold Range Rover, registered in Saudi Arabia, amid locals' concerns about breaches of parking rules and road safety
A Qatari-owned Lamborghini Aventador parks up next to the a Bugatti Veyron as Arab playboys compare their sportscars outside Harrods yesterday
The growing number of sports cars around the wealthy Knightsbridge district is causing some local residents to worry about breaches of parking rules and potential dangerous driving.
From the Dailymail
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Queen's visit to Ireland
At the moment when Scotland seems to be moving away from the Crown, the Republic of Ireland should seem to be moving towards a historic reconciliation with Britain, and the Crown that embodies it. For that is certainly what the visit of the Queen to the Republic of Ireland, starting this morning, really means: it is a historic reconciliation. Mary McAleese, the President of Ireland, will say so herself in a national broadcast this evening on Irish television.
The Queen, for her part, will make a deeply significant gesture today: she will lay a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin's Parnell Square. This rectangular space was opened in 1966 to commemorate the patriots who died for Ireland. The words of remembrance are poetically tactful: "In the darkness of despair, we saw a vision. We lit the light of hope and it was not extinguished in the desert of discouragement… O generations of freedom, remember us, the generations of the vision." But, in truth, we are talking about Irish rebels who were executed by the Crown. What an extraordinary moment of historical reconciliation indeed.
You can't please some people, of course, and there is a minority of strong nationalists who disapprove of the Queen appearing at the Garden of Remembrance. These want more: an abject apology for "800 years of English oppression" (counting from the Normans, who were hardly, at that point, "English"). They want a special apology for Cromwell's depredations – though surely Cromwell himself was no friend of royalty.
They object to the ceremonial role that the Queen holds as head of the British Armed Forces. They want the Six Counties of Northern Ireland to be handed over to the Republic, although the Irish people have voted by referendum against coercive territorial claims.
But then, because the relationship between Ireland and the British monarchy is so underpinned by all the psychological complexities of love-hate, attitudes to a visiting monarch have often been inconsistent...
Source: the Telegraph May 2011
Queen Elizabeth meets Irish President Mcaleese on December 2nd 1999
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Source: the Telegraph May 2011
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