Enjoy this time-honored tradition in hotels across the globe. Fine china. Finger sandwiches. Flaky pastries. It's hard to imagine anything as posh as afternoon tea. The tradition emerged in ...

But this very British tradition can also be eye-wateringly expensive – particularly in the capital, where afternoon tea in a top hotel can easily set you back upwards of £50 per head.

Tea is served in the hotel’s glass-ceilinged Orangery, which is wallpapered in oversized patterns of her own design. And that Wedgwood china it’s served on? She designed that, too. What was ...