Hello,
I would like to locate a squat in London, I have the following
information about it:

1. The 'owner' of the squat appeared in The London Times and was
labeled: "The queen of squats".
2. The squat is located near the entrance to Covent Garden.
3. The squat is in a very big house worth quite a few million pounds.

I met some guy in Israel that told me that his wife stays in this
squat, he was a bit drunk at the time so maybe not all of this
information is exactly correct. However, I don't think he was just
telling stories...

I would like any proof that this squat does exist, and also an exact address of it.

I will give a 10$ tip if you do find solid information about this
squat... but will also be happy if you successfully disprove that this
squat exists...

Dear astupidog-ga,

It?s a partly true, but rather out-of-date anecdote.

On 28 October, 2002, squatters occupied a Grade II listed building at
43 or 48 King Street (reports differ), near to Covent Garden. The UK
newspapers carried several reports of the incident.

The Times wrote,
"The five-storey Georgian townhouse, designed by Thomas Archer in 1716
for the Earl of Orford, was occupied by a multinational band of 15
squatters on October 28.
The owners of the building, whose colonnades and pink facade rise
above Covent Garden in the West End, are engaged in a legal battle to
remove them."

The owners of the house were Scottish Widows (insurance and finance)
and a telecoms company,  Henderson Global Investors. Other papers gave
the value of the property as £20 million.

I can find no mention of the Queen of the Squats, but the Times
article did carry a photograph of some of the squatters titled:
"Pavilioned in splendour: Aurelie, Max and Julie, of the band of
squatters who live rent-free at 48 King St in Covent Garden".

The Guardian newspaper gives a little more information on these
individuals and reported that they had "obtained a set of keys to the
empty, listed building from someone they met at a party."
(Guardian 9 November)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,836635,00.html

Their stay was short though, the newspapers later reported on 15
November 2002, that "this week, 16 squatters were evicted from a pound
sterling 20 million Grade II listed building in Covent Garden."
(The Evening Standard (London, England), Nov 15, 2002 )

If you need to see the Times article it is available on payment in
their archive. Use the search term "Trading places 2: squatters get it
cheap"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Another newspaper report appears here:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/09/1036308528240.html

I have found no recent reports of any squatting in valuable properties
in the area, nor any report that they returned to the property.

I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder


Search strategy
Used my library newspaper database and then searched on Google.

Great, I think this is probably the house because it mentions that
some of israeli nationality stayed there and also this guy said that
his wife was there with their daughter and that was also mentioned in
the article.

Dear astupidog-ga,
Many thanks for the tip. Pleased I could help.
answerfinder-ga