A handbag that once belonged to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was sold for £25,000 at auction at Christie’s in London Monday.

Thatcher frequently used the black Asprey bag on important occasions, such as summits with then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during her 1979-1990 premiership.

The former leader dubbed the “Iron Lady” donated the bag to her Conservative Party’s ex-lawmaker and author Jeffrey Archer for a charity auction.

London’s luxurious Claridge’s Hotel is the winner of the Tea Guild’s Top London Afternoon Tea 2011 Award.

Claridge’s has seen a recent shift in afternoon tea clientele as the hotel is frequented more and more by business men and women from the art, fashion and media world who book afternoon tea for their meeting as an alternative to lunch and breakfast.

“As a proud member of The Tea Guild we are delighted and honoured to receive this hugely prestigious award,” stated Claridge’s General Manager, Thomas Kochs.

Bonhams is to build a new international headquarters in London to provide the most advanced salerooms in the world.

Designed by architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, the building is to be constructed on the site of the company’s current headquarters.

Plans include the construction of facilities offering modern facilities while retaining the Art Deco facades on Bond Street and Blenheim Street.

A dazzling pearl and diamond tiara once owned by a celebrated member of Britain’s de Rothschild empire on Wednesday sold at a London auction for £1,161,250.

The bejewelled item belonged to Hannah de Rothschild, whom was at one time the richest woman in Britain and whom went on to marry dashing aristocrat and future prime minister the Earl of Rosebery.

Three pieces of jewellery owned by the countess of Rosebery were sold at Wednesday’s “Important Jewel Sale” at Christie’s auction house.

Exclusive hotel chain the Dorchester Collection has promised that its new London boutique property will open later this year, the latest in a series of new luxury hotels to hit the British capital.

45 Park Lane is set to officially open in September in London’s well-heeled Mayfair district, although the hotel would ‘soft’ open to guests in August.

With just 45 rooms, the hotel is likely to be one of the smallest luxury properties in the city, although the Dorchester Collection — which also operates London’s Dorchester Hotel, Paris’s Plaza Athenee and the Beverly Hills Hotel in California — seems determined to offer the facilities of a much larger property.

London will lead the world in terms of international tourist arrivals this year, according to new research released June 1 by MasterCard.

The new index of Global Destination Cities predicts London will receive 20.1 million inbound passengers in 2011, slightly more than Paris’s 18.1 million.

Bangkok is expected to welcome the third-highest number of visitors, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong — in fact, cities in Asia-Pacific account for eight of the top 20 global destinations.