Chelsea: The Home of the Rich and the Famous

Chelsea in Greater London has long enjoyed a reputation for being a place where the wealthy and the affluent take up residence.  In the late 1500s, it acquired the nickname “Village of Palaces” because of the number of manors and stately homes located there.  Two queens of Henry VIII made their homes in Chelsea, and his daughter Queen Elizabeth I also lived there as a young princess.   Three hundred years later, Chelsea transformed from being the village of palaces into the village of bohemians.  It became the artists' quarter and was the home of personages such as artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and James McNeill Whistler, as well as writers Thomas Carlyle, Jonathan Swift and Oscar Wilde.  And then, it became the home of punk and rock and roll gods, such as the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones and Vivienne Westwood.   Chelsea Today   Today, Chelsea is more known as a shopping Mecca and the home of the famous Chelsea FC football team.  King's Road and Bond Street both house designer boutiques.  The pubs and nightclubs of Chelsea are now the favourite hangouts of young people with money, including the young royals such as Princes William and Harry.   If you enjoy living the high class life - working as a young professional by day, partying the night away, and going into shopping therapy on weekends, Chelsea is the place for you.  There is never a lack for good flats just off the main streets and you do not have to be fabulously wealthy to live there.