When Jews Attack 476 – Victim – Jon Hunt – Attacker – Sylvia Berman

It began with a territorial spat in a small corner of a foreign land and has now grown into a full-scale diplomatic incident involving international alliances and cross-border conventions.

Faced with the prospect of a multi-storey mega-basement being constructed next to her official residence in London, the French ambassador Sylvie Bermann took legal action against the property magnate behind the scheme.

Madame Bermann lost the initial hearing at the High court in November and has decided to take her case against Jon Hunt, the multi-millionaire founder of Foxtons estate agents, to the Court of Appeal.

Sylvia_Berman_Attacks_Jon_Hunt_Over_His_Building_A_Basement_Next_Door_To_Her

Now, in an unexpected move, a grand alliance of fellow diplomats have weighed in to support her opposition to Mr Hunt’s plan to build a vast basement under his Grade II-listed four-floor home in Kensington Palace Gardens.

“The scale of the underground work planned is such that, were work to proceed, it could jeopardise diplomatic activities.”
French Embassy

Invoking, of all things, the Vienna Convention, diplomats from France, Saudi Arabia, Japan, India, Russia and Lebanon, who live on the same street, have written in protest to the Crown Estate, the property company owned by the Queen and the freeholder of the house in question.

The letter, copied to Buckingham Palace and the Foreign Office, calls on the Crown Estate to “protect the integrity of our residences” and cited diplomatic rights guaranteed under the 1961 convention.

The diplomats invoked Article 22 of the convention, which obliges the host state to protect the premises of diplomats against “intrusion or damage” and prevent “disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity”.

Mr Hunt’s proposals include a giant rotating carousel in the basement on which to display his collection of vintage and classic cars and an infinity pool on its roof.

The French Embassy, which has rented the 19th century ambassador’s residence – once home to the Duke of Marlborough – since 1946, said: “The scale of the underground work planned is such that, were work to proceed, it could jeopardise diplomatic activities.”