A WEALTHY mum has been slammed for being ‘utterly disconnected’ and ‘tacky’ after her diary of her ‘luxury lockdown’ in South Kensington went viral.
London-based writer Shruti Advani started her column for the Financial Times by saying she had tripled her regular delivery of fresh flowers as the “obvious place to start” in the pandemic.
She also said she had no issues with paying £95-an-hour for a chess tutor for her kids, despite her having “two financial degrees” herself.
The mum-of-two admitted she is “blessed with an inheritance as well as a venture-capitalist husband” – but also spoke of the struggles of getting her Ocado delivery and the anguish of Harrods fall hall shutting.
And she also said she had bought designer silk pyjamas for Zoom chats and shared the pain of giving up a spare bedroom for their nanny to live in full-time during lockdown.
After the column went live, many shocked readers took to Twitter to share how they were sure Shruti’s account must be a parody.
She said in the column: “Conscious of my responsibility towards the additional souls on board, I took stock of what resources I could call on. Trebling our usual order from the Freddie’s Flowers delivery service was the obvious place to start.”
Shruti admitted it puzzles her why she did this, but she now takes comfort knowing her household is constantly surrounded by fresh flowers.
The wealthy mum detailed the horror of Harrods food hall shutting, saying: “The food halls at Harrods, which had served customers throughout the Second World War, shuttered early in the current crisis, we had to find our sustenance elsewhere.”
Conscious of my responsibility towards the additional souls on board, I took stock of what resources I could call on. Trebling our usual order from the Freddie’s Flowers delivery service was the obvious place to start.
Shruti Advani
Thankfully for Shruti, things started to look “a bit more normal” when the “many bijou boulangeries and épiceries” in her area started to reopen.
However, homeschooling her children, which she dubbed as the “twin terrors” still proved to be a challenge.
She said: “Despite my two degrees in finance, I have been called out on more than one occasion by my seven-year-old son for getting Year Two maths wrong.
“This is not good for my self-esteem, nor does it bode well for the boy’s continued wellbeing. After much shouting, we found relief in online tutoring.
“At £65-95 an hour depending on whether it is for chess or maths, a tutor costs half as much as the psychiatrist we may have needed otherwise.”
Shruti also gave details about her coronavirus wardrobe, saying it is split between Chanel tweed blazers for interviews, and athleisure for “toiling” in front of her computer.
Determined to make her wardrobe fit working from home, she hired a personal shopper and bought £420 Olivia von Halle silk pyjamas to make dull Zoom meetings “come alive.”
Shruti did admit she has been “insulated” from the pandemic on the whole, and praised people who keep the country running.
The examples she gave were her mum’s housekeeper Sanjay, 30, who chose to work for her mum in Delhi than return to his village, as well as Peter the postman.
Her article baffled many readers, leaving some outraged and others amused by her experiences.
One went as far as to call it a “masterpiece” of writing, saying: “This is, by some considerable distance, the best piece I’ve read about the virus in the last four months.”
Another joked: “I really hope my wealth will also reach such heights that, during a global pandemic, my largest concern will be obtaining advice from a personal shopper and sourcing silk PJs for Zoom calls.”
However, one slammed: “You, far from sounding “brilliant and posh”, sound like a tacky show-off. And this is particularly unpleasant right now, when people are facing death in the streets because of the police, and death from the virus. Your article is unbelievably nauseating.”
And one added: “Made me vom. The food hall at Harrods closed early… how awful for her.”
And from designer face masks to private jet isolation – see how the rich kids of instagram are dealing with the corona lockdown.
Meanwhile, Vicky Pattison is the ‘richest reality star in lockdown’ after making £220k from Instagram posts.
