Labour's tax raids mean even the uber-rich like me are cutting back
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Carroll
2025-06-17
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While dithering over chocolates in Harrods Food Halls, a sales assistant told me slimmed-down versions of the usual 200g boxes were available for the first time.
Three chocolates, approximately 20g, tucked into little gold boxes with bows at £5 each. 'Is this because everyone, except me, is eating healthily?' I groan. 'It's just the economy,' he shrugs.
Global luxury sales fell by 3.3 per cent in November compared with an increase of 2.6 per cent at the same time in 2023. With the exception of the pandemic, sales have never been worse for personal luxury goods such as designer clothes, handbags and watches - the stock-in-trade of the uber wealthy.
I'm not surprised. In my corner of Kensington the usually armour-plated upper classes are scrambling for cover after Labour hiked taxes by a record £40billion. The Government's raids on fees at elite private schools, inherited wealth and private-jet travel means multi-millionaire misery is resulting in much more than a few Etonians complaining about higher fees for their children's education.
The effects have been especially felt at a time of year so associated with excess. In London, chauffeur-driven cars continue to snake around Berkeley Square and white truffle is on offer at restaurants in Knightsbridge at £25 per gram.
Labour's Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves hiked taxes by a record £40billion, with raids on fees at elite private schools, inherited wealth and private-jet travel
Inside the tent, there is a palpable skittishness. Recently, I attended a charity lunch at Claridge's. At £350 for three courses, it was fair to assume my fellow diners are at the bespoke end of the well-heeled.
At my table was a former currency trader and ex-wife of a Russian businessman. She was quick to confirm my fears. 'Don't be caught out when the music stops,' she warns, 'because it will stop.'
What does tightening the belt mean for someone like her, whose mortgage-free, three-bedroom flat in Chelsea Barracks would sell for £8million? She'll never have to worry about rising interest rates wreaking havoc or having to sell the family farm to pay inheritance tax due on it.
Read More
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She reminded me of the legend that sprang up around Queen Elizabeth II, who was said to walk about Buckingham Palace switching off the lights in unused rooms. There are times when economy is necessary, even for the rich.
'On Sunday, I taught my teenagers how to make a roast,' my lunch companion says. 'I will make dinner on school nights, but they must feed themselves for the two weekends a month they spend with me.'
She does not seem upset at having to part ways with her private chef of a decade - even if her children are.
I don't have the private-chef problem, but I lean in to tell her where I've started to trim the fat. The gym, obviously!
Membership at the one I go to in Chelsea has a £1,000 joining fee; but then there's the £650 monthly charge and £120 per hour for a private pilates lesson. After dropping my membership, within an hour I received an offer to put it on hold for a year. Could it be that too many people are cancelling? And there are my bank-busting beauty treatments. The first to go? My laser facials. Using radio frequency and electromagnetic pulses they promise better-than-Botox results.
However, at £2,500 for four - the minimum recommended for lasting results - they aren't entirely painless.
Charlotte recently attended a charity lunch at Claridge's in London, where she paid £350 for three courses and a little virtue signalling
Charlotte skipped her laser facials this year. These use radio frequency and electromagnetic pulses and promise better-than-Botox results. Though at £2,500 for four - the minimum recommended for lasting results - they aren't entirely painless, she says (picture posed by models)
So this year I did it myself with a Lyma laser for £2,000 and an LED mask from Beauty Pie for £120. Sometimes you have to spend money to save money.
Those with deeper pockets than mine are making even deeper cuts. My new friend at Claridge's told me about an Instagram post from an entrepreneur who has her initials on her £240,000 Ferrari's licence plate. Despite that, she spent the night before her daughter's birthday painting props for her elaborate tablescape.
This is not a cause for alarm unless you throw themed dinner parties using a tablescaper such as Alice Naylor-Leyland (a celebrity favourite, who can charge £350 for a table for four).
Perhaps it's no surprise kitchen suppers have come back in fashion. No sit-down dinners or extortionate catering. This Twixmas, it's everyone gathered for a family style meal.
I've been to one in North Kensington and another in Fulham but the trend is being taken to the max, like most things are in the Boltons - the super-rich South Kensington enclave.
The good news is the meal is heartier than a token platter of caviar on blinis.
Nigella Lawson's buttermilk roast chicken or Yotam Ottolenghi's baked rice are popular mains. But as one hostess quipped, the roast butternut squash she served came from Waitrose and was 'cheaper than chips'.
Nigella Lawson's buttermilk roast chicken is a popular main for a kitchen supper in The Boltons - the super-rich South Kensington enclave
The most radical cost-cutting hack among the One Per Cent I've heard about is: Ozempic. At the swankiest clubs, sparkling water has replaced £26 Tequila Palomas as the drink of choice. Dinner ends at the second course, instead of with a £320 Montecristo Sublime. It seems even cigar smoke is revolting for those on weight-loss jabs.
Available on the NHS, these drugs are also sold by private clinics for up to £200 for a month's supply - far less than the cost of a night out. I am not surprised. The wealthy have always operated in a parallel universe.
This can occasionally be a source of amusement - but I'll not laugh too loudly. I have given up my membership at my Mayfair club... but fear I may soon also need to ditch my £650 every-six-weeks hair appointment!
Charlotte Crawford is a pseudonym
Labour
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Three chocolates, approximately 20g, tucked into little gold boxes with bows at £5 each. 'Is this because everyone, except me, is eating healthily?' I groan. 'It's just the economy,' he shrugs.
Global luxury sales fell by 3.3 per cent in November compared with an increase of 2.6 per cent at the same time in 2023. With the exception of the pandemic, sales have never been worse for personal luxury goods such as designer clothes, handbags and watches - the stock-in-trade of the uber wealthy.
I'm not surprised. In my corner of Kensington the usually armour-plated upper classes are scrambling for cover after Labour hiked taxes by a record £40billion. The Government's raids on fees at elite private schools, inherited wealth and private-jet travel means multi-millionaire misery is resulting in much more than a few Etonians complaining about higher fees for their children's education.
The effects have been especially felt at a time of year so associated with excess. In London, chauffeur-driven cars continue to snake around Berkeley Square and white truffle is on offer at restaurants in Knightsbridge at £25 per gram.
Labour's Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves hiked taxes by a record £40billion, with raids on fees at elite private schools, inherited wealth and private-jet travel
Inside the tent, there is a palpable skittishness. Recently, I attended a charity lunch at Claridge's. At £350 for three courses, it was fair to assume my fellow diners are at the bespoke end of the well-heeled.
At my table was a former currency trader and ex-wife of a Russian businessman. She was quick to confirm my fears. 'Don't be caught out when the music stops,' she warns, 'because it will stop.'
What does tightening the belt mean for someone like her, whose mortgage-free, three-bedroom flat in Chelsea Barracks would sell for £8million? She'll never have to worry about rising interest rates wreaking havoc or having to sell the family farm to pay inheritance tax due on it.
Read More
I tried to ignore my husband's cocaine habit... and then he humiliated me for a final time
She reminded me of the legend that sprang up around Queen Elizabeth II, who was said to walk about Buckingham Palace switching off the lights in unused rooms. There are times when economy is necessary, even for the rich.
'On Sunday, I taught my teenagers how to make a roast,' my lunch companion says. 'I will make dinner on school nights, but they must feed themselves for the two weekends a month they spend with me.'
She does not seem upset at having to part ways with her private chef of a decade - even if her children are.
I don't have the private-chef problem, but I lean in to tell her where I've started to trim the fat. The gym, obviously!
Membership at the one I go to in Chelsea has a £1,000 joining fee; but then there's the £650 monthly charge and £120 per hour for a private pilates lesson. After dropping my membership, within an hour I received an offer to put it on hold for a year. Could it be that too many people are cancelling? And there are my bank-busting beauty treatments. The first to go? My laser facials. Using radio frequency and electromagnetic pulses they promise better-than-Botox results.
However, at £2,500 for four - the minimum recommended for lasting results - they aren't entirely painless.
Charlotte recently attended a charity lunch at Claridge's in London, where she paid £350 for three courses and a little virtue signalling
Charlotte skipped her laser facials this year. These use radio frequency and electromagnetic pulses and promise better-than-Botox results. Though at £2,500 for four - the minimum recommended for lasting results - they aren't entirely painless, she says (picture posed by models)
So this year I did it myself with a Lyma laser for £2,000 and an LED mask from Beauty Pie for £120. Sometimes you have to spend money to save money.
Those with deeper pockets than mine are making even deeper cuts. My new friend at Claridge's told me about an Instagram post from an entrepreneur who has her initials on her £240,000 Ferrari's licence plate. Despite that, she spent the night before her daughter's birthday painting props for her elaborate tablescape.
This is not a cause for alarm unless you throw themed dinner parties using a tablescaper such as Alice Naylor-Leyland (a celebrity favourite, who can charge £350 for a table for four).
Perhaps it's no surprise kitchen suppers have come back in fashion. No sit-down dinners or extortionate catering. This Twixmas, it's everyone gathered for a family style meal.
I've been to one in North Kensington and another in Fulham but the trend is being taken to the max, like most things are in the Boltons - the super-rich South Kensington enclave.
The good news is the meal is heartier than a token platter of caviar on blinis.
Nigella Lawson's buttermilk roast chicken or Yotam Ottolenghi's baked rice are popular mains. But as one hostess quipped, the roast butternut squash she served came from Waitrose and was 'cheaper than chips'.
Nigella Lawson's buttermilk roast chicken is a popular main for a kitchen supper in The Boltons - the super-rich South Kensington enclave
The most radical cost-cutting hack among the One Per Cent I've heard about is: Ozempic. At the swankiest clubs, sparkling water has replaced £26 Tequila Palomas as the drink of choice. Dinner ends at the second course, instead of with a £320 Montecristo Sublime. It seems even cigar smoke is revolting for those on weight-loss jabs.
Available on the NHS, these drugs are also sold by private clinics for up to £200 for a month's supply - far less than the cost of a night out. I am not surprised. The wealthy have always operated in a parallel universe.
This can occasionally be a source of amusement - but I'll not laugh too loudly. I have given up my membership at my Mayfair club... but fear I may soon also need to ditch my £650 every-six-weeks hair appointment!
Charlotte Crawford is a pseudonym
Labour
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