Shahrukh Khan has purchased a £20 million (140cr) apartment in Park Lane, London. Along with Mayfair, Park Lane represents the most exclusive area of private accommodation in the centre of London, around the corner from Oxford Street, across the road from Hyde Park and not much more than a short stroll to Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Buckingham Palace. This is of course an excellent time to buy with property prices currently depressed by the recession.

"It is a known fact that the King Khan likes to visit London every year for a vacation with his family," said a source. "He generally stays in the best of hotels on his visits there, but for past few months he has been eyeing an apartment in London’s plusher areas for himself, so that he doesn’t have to stay in hotels every time. After going through many choices both he and wife Gauri ended up liking this particular place."

SRK feels proud to have received an honorary doctorate from Bedfordshire University in the UK and has been jokingly referring to himself as Dr Khan. "My children don’t really understand the award," he says. "And keep expecting to see me with a stethoscope." He intends to use the award to foster the education of underprivileged children: "I get the feeling that I should further the cause of those underprivileged children who don't get the opportunity to educate themselves," he confirms, adding with a smile that he intends to begin with his own who are "highly uneducated as of now".