With thanks to Country and Town House, here are five things to do this week in London:

Stylish chess sets to channel your inner Beth Harmon, and shop for Christmas like the Duchess of Cambridge

As lockdown lifts, will we be unfurling ourselves, sloughing off the at-home ennui and heading to the local for a singalong? No, probably not. While things may relax a bit, caution should be our watchword – I mean, imagine giving Christmas Covid to a relative. Two things caught my attention this week: I read a survey that most billionaires in the world were Librans and it sent me on a random, time-wasting wild Google chase to find other zodiac quirky facts, and – when watching episode 4 of The Undoing with Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman – I was appalled at their lawyer’s tactic of digging up the personal histories of the jurors by a ‘piggyback on the algorithms of Amazon and Google’. She knew what they bought, what they searched and who was having affairs. My advice? Install Duckduckgo.com on your browser – it eliminates all chances of you being tracked. You’re welcome.

Have a great week.

Lucy

FIVE THINGS YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS

Christmas at Kew

A glimmer of hope at the end of the dark tunnel that is 2020: Kew Gardens' winter light festival is back and brighter than ever. New features for this year include a glowing pink cherry blossom walkway, a singing rose garden and a tunnel adorned with a canopy of starry lanterns.

Borough Market's Festive Kitchen

Gizzi Erskine chats about her new book, Romy Gill answers all your Christmas cooking queries, Edd Kimber leads a pastry class and much more at Borough Market’s Festive Kitchen, a three-week digital pop-up dedicated to seasonal food and drink.

Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace

See artworks fit for royalty in a new exhibition at The Queen’s Gallery, which features 65 paintings that usually hang in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace. The show includes masterpieces from Titian, Van Dyck and Canaletto, as well as Rembrandt’s The Shipbuilder and his Wife – long said to be the Queen’s favourite painting. Image: Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020

The Craft Council Gallery

On the hunt for one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts? Check out The Craft Council Gallery, a new space for showcasing contemporary craft in London’s Islington. The gallery virtually opens its doors this week with an online exhibition titled Future Edit, featuring 150 unique pieces available to buy.

The Creatures of Prometheus

Stephen Fry narrates Gerard McBurney’s script in a new production of Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus, marking 250 years since the German composer’s birth. The online performance will see Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the full ballet score as part of the final Philharmonia Session of the year.

Enter now to be in with a chance of winning an exclusive four-night stay for two at Lindos Grand Resort & Spa – Rhodes’ hottest new adults-only resort.

WHAT’S KEEPING MY SPIRITS UP

A CARDI FROM HERD

I’ve discovered yet another sustainable English knitwear brand that eco-conscious shoppers should have on their radar. Herd uses the finest fleeces of 100 per cent Bluefaced Leicester sheep (English breeds are oft neglected in favour of Australasian ones) from farms in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The wool is then cleaned and spun with no toxic inputs and, finally, knitted into the most gorgeous hats, scarves, cardis and sweaters, all within 150 miles of the farms. These brands ought to be championed and I’m proud to do so.

SUPPORTING BRITISH HOTELS

Let’s face it, these guys have been dealt bludgeon after bludgeon and with things still looking rocky until at least springtime, we can do our bit and support them through buying presents from their online shops. They offer such a beautiful curation of unique and original gifts that will feel so much better than just filling your Amazon basket. Favourites for me are the Fife Arms’ botanical bodycare range – I just love the bottles so much. And Ashford Castle’s tweed blanket would look mighty fine slung on my sofa. Click here for more ideas.

GREEN SHOOTS

As the autumn leaves turn to mush beneath my feet, I’m finding ways to keep green-fingered – or at least to keep the greens coming, as not much skill is needed with a AeroGrow Bounty (£229.99), a clever little indoor system that allows you to grow up to six herbs, veggies or flowers all year long with its fully contained garden system. Such a great idea. For something even more basic, pop an acorn or avocado stone into an Ilex vase (from £25) and wait. There’s something decidedly Zen about waiting for the shoots and roots to appear.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE UP TO

Shop independent this Christmas – you know it’s the right thing to do, says Matt Thomas

Thanks to The Queen’s Gambit, we’re all going wild for chess, says Rebecca Cox (Image: Netflix)

Ed Vaizey and Charlotte Metcalf meet Gered Mankowitz, the celebrated Rock ’n Roll photographer

Planning a virtual office Christmas party? Ellie Smith shares some Zoom-friendly ideas

CULTURE RADAR

LISTEN...

After a brilliant four years, Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes bring their smash-hit podcast The High Low to a close this week. Catch the last ever show live on 8 Dec

READ...

Jonathan Coe’s latest novel since Middle England, Mr Wilder & Me, sees the man whose book, What a Carve Up! gained huge plaudits on the virtual stage, is back at the top of his game

WATCH...

Adrian Shergold's Cordelia is an intriguing and powerful two-hander (basically) between a deeply traumatised girl and the strange man downstairs. Streaming now