Design
What the Summer Games Will Cost the Queen
The London Olympics will be an equal-opportunity irritant for VIPs.
While the London Olympic Games’ critics see them as a pretext for land grabs and corporate posturing, recent news from London suggests that the less well off aren’t the only ones who will have to grin and bear it this summer.
According to an announcement by city travel body Transport for London, the games will commandeer the queen’s own driveway for three months. Well, sort of. The road to be closed is actually the Mall, a grand avenue that connects Trafalgar Square with the queen’s London home at Buckingham Palace. An elegant promenade since the 17th century, this wide road flanked by parkland and mansions is generally the chosen spot for royal processions. If you’ve ever watched any televised British pomp, you’ll have seen it already.