Many of us, when we take time out from worrying about Iraq, have worried for years about the London social season.
With the British descending into an informal miasma of athletic gear and hoodies, who is going to keep the good old traditions going, like tea at Wimbledon and big hats at Royal Ascot?
Have no fear. The newly rich Russians that have flooded into London in recent years just love dressing up and flaunting their wealth.
And who can blame them? After 80 years of dreadful Stalinism and socialist realism who wouldn’t enjoy dressing up and showing off?
As Christine Toomey explains in the Sunday Times, the Russians like the London season because so many of their “traditions were destroyed in the Russian revolution.” Even the Russians back home are getting into the act, if only vicariously. “Two Russian documentaries were filmed at Royal Ascot last year.”
Can the Russians really be accepted in snooty old London? Elena Ragozhina, editor of a glossy magazine for rich Russians, thinks so. They can get doors to open through their charitable donations.
“Charity is a new concept for many Russians. In Soviet society the state was expected to provide for everybody,” she says. “But before that, there was a noble tradition of charitable giving in Russia, and we are trying to revive that. The generosity of many Russians is greatly appreciated, I think.”
Oh sure. Just listen to this. Some of the old school are not too impressed.
Since the appearance of so many arrivistes, the season is said to have lost its appeal for some of its traditional patrons, says Clive Aslet, a former editor of Country Life. “Most of the real old families rather look down on that world now. They see it as rather pretentious.”
Lowering the tone of the neighborhood, eh?
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