The impoverished professionals: New victims of the crunch

"How did I go broke?" the once-rich F. Scott Fitzgerald said to Ernest Hemingway. "Two ways – slowly then quickly." More and more wealthy Britons are being left surprised at the speed with which the golden horse-drawn carriage of their lives has suddenly become a train on a one-way ticket to Queer Street. The Duchess of York – who is facing bankruptcy, has been reduced to trying to sell her husband's influence like some eau de parfum and is now in danger of losing her home – is only the most recent case of financial meltdown among the well-heeled. The phenomenon of the A-list debtor is not a localised trend: it's a sign of the times. Read More