French president Nicholas Sarkozy spends £660 a day on flowers..
A figure unearthed from the publication of the presidential accounts. (The Guardian reported the news of Sarkozy's annual flower bill of €275,809 on Thursday last week, but other papers seem to have picked up on the floristry angle today.)
Not even Elton John, the celebrity florist's best friend to date, could match that - he admitted spending £460 a day on flowers back in 1997. His excuse? "I like flowers" - and there's a whole book on Elton John's taste in blooms to prove it, too. Buckingham Palace, meanwhile, splashed £24,000 on flowers to decorate state rooms back in 2002.
Judging from the peaches-and-cream tree-a-like structure in the picture above, I am not impressed. For £660 a day I'd at least want some flower arrangements that don't look like something you'd buy from TK Maxx's home department.
But what do I know? It appears Britain doesn't really do extravagant spending when it comes to flowers (unless you're a popstar). On average we spend £38 a year - that's right, a year - on cut flowers, according to the Flowers and Plants Association, plus another £8 on houseplants.