U.S. embassy in London citing 63-year-old convention to avoid paying $18.7m congestion charge

Yellow Porsche supercar parked beside a yellow hoarding for the Embassy Gardens residential development beside the US Embassy (Credit: Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

The U.K.—U.S. “special relationship” has had a few hiccups over the years—the Suez Crisis, disagreements over the Vietnam War, and now 20 years’ worth of unpaid traffic charges. 

The U.S. is in a feud with the British capital’s transport body, Transport for London (TfL), over a £15 ($19) daily congestion charge for drivers in the center of London.