Ben Kingsley suing interior designers who left his luxury apartment ‘like a building site’

Sir Ben Kingsley is locked in a £60,000 court fight with interior designers who left his luxury apartment like a “building site” after a high-end makeover.

The Oscar-winning actor – whose roles range from Hamlet to Gandhi and Jungle Book’s Bagheera – is suing after commissioning a full “replan and restyle” of his South Kensington apartment in 2019.

Sir Ben, 78, and wife Lady Daniela Lavender Kingsley, 47, wanted a complete makeover of the flat, close to the Royal Albert Hall, including “unique bespoke furniture” and high-end appliances fitted to the “highest standard”, but claim the apartment was left “uninhabitable” after their interior designer walked off the job without delivering all their paid-for goods.

They are suing for delivery up of the luxury household items, including a marble vanity top, as well as damages for “conversion” (interference with their property).

Leonardo Biagioni, the interior designer, and Lara Harrington, the fellow designer who also worked on the project, trading as Lumiere Interiors, deny any liability to pay the couple damages.

Mr Biagioni claims he completed his part of the job, which was solely to provide advice on installations, and that Ms Harrington had contracted directly with the Kingsleys to do the physical work, and now holds the disputed items.

Ms Harrington accepts she still has a handful of items intended for the flat, but claims her contract was with Mr Biagioni, that she left the job after the Kingsleys’ PA was “rude” to her, and is still owed part of her fee.

Sir Ben and Lady Daniela, herself an accomplished Shakespearean, film and TV actor, say in court documents that they had agreed a “retainer” with Mr Biagioni to “re-plan and re-style the complete flat”.

But the Kingsleys say Mr Biagioni “quit” the retainer in a telephone call with their PA, also saying that Ms Harrington would not be returning to do any more work on the flat.

Soon after that, the Kingsleys’ lawyers sent a letter to Mr Biagioni, claiming: “the works at the property required under the agreement are a very long way from being finished and it is currently uninhabitable and resembles a building site. That is not a situation our clients can tolerate.”

The couple are now suing Mr Biagioni and Ms Harrington for damages, plus delivery of luxury household items which they say were paid for but not delivered, including a Bosch integrated fridge, Bosch oven and dishwasher, and marble designed for a vanity top.

Alternatively, they want the value of the items, with their lawyers telling Judge Marc Dight at the court last week that the full value of the claim, including damages, is just over £59,000.

Mr Biagioni insists that he has completed his end of the bargain, having been contracted only to advise on the installation of items at the apartment, with Ms Harrington and her firm responsible for the physical work.

He also denies “quitting” the retainer, claiming that the phone call in question had ended with the Kingsleys’ PA “screaming down the phone” and giving him no chance to respond.

Ms Harrington also denies having all of the items which the Kingsleys say are missing, claiming that she is “exercising lien” over a handful of household goods, including an oven and a fridge, until she is paid £6,250 she says is still owed by the Kingsleys for her work.