Friday 27 May 2022 11:31 PM EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Gentlemen's club White's ditches its men only rule trends now
David Cameron famously resigned in 2008 as a member of gentlemen’s club White’s in protest at its refusal to admit women members.
But I can reveal that the oldest and most rigidly traditional of all London’s clubs is suspending convention to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
It’s holding a lavish dinner at which members’ wives will be welcome. ‘It’s almost a revolution,’ jokes one member. ‘The club didn’t feel that it could celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee without any women present, but it’s caused chaos because there is not enough room on the premises to accommodate them all.’
As a result, White’s, where Prince Charles held his Bollinger-fuelled stag night in 1981 before his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, is to hold not one, not two, but six Jubilee dinners.
‘All the places were booked in about half an hour,’ I’m told. This privilege comes at a vertiginous price — £225-a-head. Not that that’s a consideration for members of the exclusive St James’s establishment, who include ebullient hedge fund tycoon Crispin Odey.
I can reveal that the oldest and most rigidly traditional of all London’s clubs is suspending convention to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
The Queen first visited the club in 1991 and returned in 2016 with Prince Philip for a lunch to celebrate her 90th birthday.
Princes Charles and William are members at White’s, where former PM Cameron’s father Ian was once chairman. But even in the 21st century the club, which specialises in game dishes and is rarely called upon to serve one of its vegetarian options for lunch, refuses to move with the times and admit women members.
Interestingly, Cameron has been spotted at the club, founded in 1693, several times since his departure from Downing Street. However, his office has insisted that he has not renewed his membership.
The Queen seldom crosses the threshold of gentlemen’s clubs. Annabel’s is said to be the only nightclub she has ever visited. She popped in for a party there in 2003, when she sipped a gin martini.
Princes Charles and William are members at White’s. The Queen seldom crosses the threshold of gentlemen’s clubs. Annabel’s is said to be the only nightclub she has ever visited
The 28-year-old turned up at the amFAR gala at the Cannes festival in a striking red latex outfit
As Lily Collins’s love rival in Netflix ‘guilty pleasure’ Emily In Paris, Camille Razat epitomises the chic sartorial elegance for which French women are renowned. Off screen, her fashion is rather more daring.
The 28-year-old turned up at the amFAR gala at the Cannes festival in a striking red latex outfit.
‘I’m more edgy in real life than my Emily In Paris character and more rock ’n’ roll,’ she tells me. ‘Tonight, the theme was a sci-fi character, so I thought this was the perfect fit.’
The smart set’s talking about... Testino’s rehabilitation
Celebrated for taking some of the most charming photographs of Princess Diana
Celebrated for taking some of the most charming photographs of Princess Diana, Mario Testino was dropped by Vogue and shunned by many after he was accused of misconduct, including sexual assault, by 13 male models and assistants.
The Peruvian denied the allegations and he is now making a surprising return to London society, with the help of the granddaughter of Rolling Stone Keith Richards.
Model Ella Richards, 25, made a point of inviting Testino to a cocktail party she hosted this week at No.9 Cork Street in Mayfair as part of denim brand DL1961’s Indigo exhibition.
She was joined by pals including Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece, a goddaughter of Prince Charles, and fashion icon Daphne Guinness.
‘Mario’s been welcomed back like a prodigal son,’ a fashion source tells me.
