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Qatar’s royal family probably isn’t used to hearing the word ‘no’. But that’s exactly what happened when they submitted plans to build a London palace.
The Qataris wanted to combine two mansions to build a palace with 17 bedrooms, 14 lounges, four dining rooms, a swimming pool and a cinema, according to The Guardian.
The floor plan below captures the scale of the planned five-storey palace, which would have been worth an estimated £200 million (AU$395 million).
However, a council planning officer was unimpressed, as he explained in a memo to the Qataris.
“Your development would lead to the loss of a housing unit which would not meet S14 of Westminster’s City Plan: Strategic Policies adopted in November 2013,” the official said.
“Negotiation could not overcome the reasons for refusal.”
The Qataris tried to solve the problem by offering the council £850,000 in cash towards its affordable housing fund, The Guardian reported. The offer, though, was rejected.
It goes to show that while princes and emirs may ooze authority, nobody wields more power than a stubborn bureaucrat.
