By Terence O'Hara
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 6, 2004; Page E01
London's Savoy Court Apartments are counted among Britain's most exclusive private residences. And No. 6 was among the most lavishly appointed.
The 2,500-square-foot, two-story apartment was fully furnished, chock-full of original artwork and antiques that reflected the rich tastes of the well-to-do American family whose horse-breeding, banking and broadcasting interests allowed them to travel in the most rarefied of international cultural and financial circles. The adjacent Savoy Hotel, a Strand landmark just a half-mile from Buckingham Palace, took care of maid service, room service and standing orders for flowers, according to sources familiar with the apartment.
Barbara and Joe L. Allbritton are seen at a 2002 function in Washington. Their use of a posh London apartment is under scrutiny. (Rebecca D'angelo For The Washington Post)
Joe L. Allbritton, the longtime chairman of Riggs Bank, and his wife, Barbara, enjoyed the apartment for more than a decade when personal or business matters brought them to the British capital where Riggs housed its European operations.
Only the Allbrittons didn't own No. 6 Savoy Court. Riggs Bank did -- until the fallout from revelations of widespread violations of federal anti-money-laundering laws led the bank to close its London operations and sell the luxury apartment and a private aircraft also used by the Allbrittons for non-bank business.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9776-2004Oct5.html