Planning for Christmas is a big event in most households, but it seems that the Queen is more dedicated to keeping the spirit of the season alive than most others. The Royal Family retreat to their Sandringham Estate in Norfolk for the festive period, and Her Majesty oversees much of the preparations herself. She arrives in plenty of time to do it, too.
A full week before Christmas Day, the Queen will travel ahead of the rest of the family to Sandringham and commence planning for the events to come. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall are generally the last to arrive, making their own travel on Christmas Eve. It's a huge family occasion, which everybody is invited to. The Queen personally selects a tree each year (Christmas trees being a tradition started by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria), and decorating it is the responsibility of the children and grandchildren.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.