Television Series Background
London Tipton is the only child of business tycoon Wilfred Tipton. Her mother, who has never been named, is of Thai origin; her father is American, though he claims British citizenship for income tax purposes. She was born and raised in wealth and high society, and is heiress to the Tipton corporate empire (which includes the Tipton hotel chain and many other companies, including several record labels). It is revealed in The Suite Life on Deck episode "A London Carol" that London used to love helping people and every Christmas she and Moseby used to always go to the homeless shelter.
London wears the latest designer clothing (as mentioned in That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana). She had a tough childhood, because her father was always busy and married many times. The Suite Life on Deck reveals that her father married a girl named Karina because London wanted her out of her way of her relationship with a magician on the ship. London herself says that Karina is her father's fourteenth wife. It is also said in the finale of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody that her father has been married a dozen times in the past.
Her father did not attend any of London's performances because he was supposedly very busy, as revealed by London to Maddie in the episode "Lip Synchin' in the Rain." As she grew older, she started to cover the emptiness her father created by his absence with shopping, as Maddie discovers in the episode "Kisses & Basketball". Maddie claims that London buys clothes only to cope with feelings of emptiness. In The Suite Life on Deck episode "The Beauty and the Fleeced", London admits to shopping when she is depressed.
She was miserable during her early childhood years, because her father was never around when she needed him. She refers to this in the episode "Poor Little Rich Girl", when the Tipton family loses all of their money; and also in the episode "The Prince & The Plunger", when London's school hosted a father-daughter dance.
At the age of 15, she met Maddie Fitzpatrick, who eventually becomes her best friend. At one point, London enrolled at Maddie's Catholic school, Our Lady Of Perpetual Sorrow. Later on in the series, London was expelled because she did not attend her classes, so she is forced to go to Cheevers High School. Then her father has her attend Seven Seas High, a high school program on the SS Tipton, because on a ship, she will not be able escape to another place (except by helicopter or submarine, but Miss Tuttweiler and Mr. Moseby monitor both her escape routes closely). London also is not so smart. In The Suite Life on Deck episode "Sea Monster Mash", she says that Maddie used to do all the work for her, but in "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody", Cody Martin helps her with her project, but she ends up working with Nia and they make French fries with their projects combined.
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