Princess Diana visited Annabel’s for Sarah, Duchess of York’s hen do, and Queen Elizabeth called in 2003 for her friend, the Countess of Airlie’s, 70th birthday.
Yet there is one figure whose presence in Mayfair’s private club its owner, Richard Caring, is desperate to secure: Lady Annabel Goldsmith, after whom the celebrated venue is named.
I can announce that Lady Annabel, the mother of Prime Minister Lord (Zac) Goldsmith and film producer Jemima Khan, has been invited to the lavish party that ‘King of Clubs’ Caring is throwing this Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Berkeley Square club .
Lady Annabel, who turns 89 this weekend, confirms that she has received an invitation but has not yet decided if she will attend.
“It’s very sweet of them,” she tells me. “The only thing about Annabel’s is it’s not quite the basement I remember.”
Lady Annabel, who turns 89 this weekend, confirms she has received an invitation from Richard Caring to attend Mayfair’s private club, but has not yet decided if she will attend.
Richard Caring is desperate to find Lady Annabel Goldsmith, after whom the celebrated location is named
Caring’s invitation to Lady Annabel could be seen as an olive branch for her family that could end the feud that has simmered since her first husband, Mark Birley (pictured), gave the club and his other Mayfair nightclubs to Caring sold for reportedly £100 million in 2007
Lady Annabel is a regular visitor to Caring’s clubs, where members of the royal family often dine. In the photo: Annabel’s nightclub
Billionaire Caring, who also owns fashionable London restaurants including Scott’s, The Ivy and J Sheekey, spent around £65 million in 2018 relocating the club to a Grade II listed town house two doors down.
Magnate Sir James Goldsmith’s widow adds: ‘I’ve been invited to the party, but I do have one of the grandchildren’s birthday on that day. I will probably go. I’ll have to see. I’ll think of them.’
Caring’s invitation to Lady Annabel could be seen as an olive branch for her family that could end the feud that has simmered since her first husband, Mark Birley, sold the club and his other Mayfair nightclubs to Caring, who turned 75 on Sunday. reported £100 million in 2007.
The sale devastated Mark’s son Robin, who had been running Annabel’s until they fell out. Robin was forbidden from using his surname, Birley, for any other business.
In what has come to be referred to in civic circles as “the battle of Berkeley Square,” Robin went on to found the fashionable private clubs 5 Hertford Street and Oswald’s, named after his grandfather, the society painter Sir Oswald Birley.
Lady Annabel is a regular visitor to his clubs, where members of the royal family often dine.
“I love going to my son Robin’s clubs,” she tells me.
“I go at least once or twice a week and have lunch or dinner with Robin.”
Saffron sings praises of her son’s new bride
Saffron Aldridge was a muse to Ralph Lauren, but the model credits her new daughter-in-law, Leah Chapman, as her inspiration.
Aldridge’s son, Milo Astaire, 29, married Chapman, 28, founder of fashion label Issue Twelve, over the weekend.
The couple exchanged vows and shared their first kiss as husband and wife at the Chateau La Coste vineyard on France’s Riveria (pictured).
“I’m inspired by her desire to create forever pieces, along with her total commitment to keeping her brand on track with a sustainable ethos,” Aldridge (inset) says of Chapman. Milo’s father is novelist Simon Astaire.
Saffron Aldridge (pictured) was a muse to Ralph Lauren, but the model credits her new daughter-in-law, Leah Chapman, as her source of inspiration.
Peter Crouch says his wife, Abbey Clancy, insists they leave messages every time they take a flight without their kids. “Whenever we’re on a plane without the kids, she texts her brother or her mum, and lets me do that too, a voice note,” the ex-England footballer, 42, says of model Abbey, 37 , a former Strictly winner. “I have to go, ‘So if we die, you’ll have all the kids’.” It’s a really nice message for her brother to receive – ‘when we die, you’re in charge.’
How ERII overthrew Sir Tim
How so! Oscar winner Sir Tim Rice has revealed that Queen Elizabeth was such a cricket fan that she used to watch the Palace XI play against a team he had formed.
“Not too long ago my cricket team played against the royals in Windsor and she came to those matches in a completely private capacity and it was very informal,” says the lyricist.
“She kindly agreed to pose for a picture with my team, which is just amazing. So me and 10 or 12 of my friends have a beautiful view of us sitting on a cricket team with the Queen in the center of the front row. It is awesome.’
Britney Spears performed a version of the Rolling Stones classic (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction in 2000, but the American pop superstar failed to recognize Sir Mick Jagger when the singers met backstage at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York the following year .
“I had no idea who I was talking to,” Spears, 41, says of the encounter. Jagger, who turns 80 next month, was impressed by her portrayal of Satisfaction. “She’s done really well,” he said.
Homeland star Damian Lewis claims he modeled his career on that of Dexter Fletcher, who rose to fame at the age of ten in Bugsy Malone.
The 57-year-old Englishman Fletcher next starred opposite Lewis in war drama Band Of Brothers before becoming a director of hit films including Bohemian Rhapsody. “I saw you roar with your American accent, your baby blues, your charm, your confidence, your good looks,” gushes 52-year-old Lewis at a BFI Southbank event celebrating Fletcher’s 50th anniversary in the business.
“I thought, ‘Who is that guy? I want to be him.” Now I’m in therapy, you’re a director, I’m trying to get a job from you.’