Other famous revellers will continue to party on the nightclub floor as Annabel’s, a prestigious London club, announces to its employees that Andrew and his ex-wife Fergie are no longer welcome.
Annabel’s has ruled as London’s most exclusive nightclub for 62 years. A classy yet comfortable setting where famous people squabble with lords, ladies, politicians, and even royalty.
Reputedly, it’s the only nightclub where the late Queen Elizabeth II was known to have set foot. She first popped in for cocktails once in 1967. Then she joined the 70th birthday celebration of her Lady of the Bedchamber, Virginia Ogilvy, in 2003 – enjoying a gin martini with no lemon.
Membership was by invitation only when Annabel’s opened its sturdy doors back in June 1963. But it has now firmly closed them to the two black sheep of high society – Andrew Mountbatten -Windsor and his ex wife Sarah Ferguson.
Indeed, staff have allegedly been told the pair – disgraced by their association with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein – should no longer be allowed inside.
Their banishment will make their daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, who are paying members, feel more awkward than before, and they are welcome to come and go as they pleased. The £3,750-a-year club in the heart of Mayfair can be changed.
However, Annabel’s is known for never taking any prisoners, having moved to a Grade I listed Georgian building just two doors from its original Mayfair residence in Berkeley Square in 2018 after a multi-million dollar renovation.
Paul McCartney and The Beatles were once famously refused entry for not wearing shoes and Mick Jagger had to borrow a doorman’s tie before he was admitted. Queen of luxury journalism Lucia van der Post wrote of Annabel’s: “Princes, minor royals, cabinet ministers, young bucks, exiled dictators, trust fund babes, movers & shakers around town soon began to find their way to what has to be the smartest basement in the world.”
Ironically, the club was referred to as a great leveller by the couple’s friend David Wynne-Morgan, who once wrote: “Celebrities in every field and age group pack it every night because they are members of Annabel’s.”
And for more than six decades, the rich, famous and very well-to-do have kept tottering in. Princess Diana, Frank SInatra, Diana Ross and to come more up to date, the likes of Harry Styles, Lady Gaga and Kate Moss have all enjoyed the hospitality of Annabel’s.
You lived through it as if it never was going to end, and Annabel’s was the absolute hub, said Lady Ashcombe, a member of the social elite that predominated the club in its early days. Former editor-in-chief of Vogue, Anna Wintour, the ultimate queen of glamour, once said of its clientele: “Hairdressers were equally as well known as duchesses, and Annabel’s was where all those people went.”
After her marriage to the then Prince Charles, Princess Diana frequently visited Annabel’s and regarded Lady Annabel as a “mother figure” who had later been married to the Goldsmith family.
Diana adored the club’s strict no-photo policy, which gave her a rare amount of privacy. Elizabeth Taylor, another outstanding beauty, was a regular visitor. Annabel’s has frequently been photographed by Joan Collins, and rumors claim that the club was inspired by Jackie Collins’ sister’s 1969 novel The Stud. Some scenes from the 1978 film adaptation were shot there, including one starring Joan.
He may no longer be a clubbing man, back when he was 28, Prince William didn’t leave the club until 1.30am – knowing a few hours later he’d be escorting his then fiancee Kate Middleton to lunch with the Queen.
Jemima Khan, the daughter of Kate Moss and Lady Annabel, stunned the wealthy clientele in 2006 when the two women shared a 60-second kiss after Philip Green, the then-BHS boss, paid £60, 000 for a “Kiss Me Kate” lot in a celebrity auction.
When Lady Gaga performed an intimate performance at the club in 2011 for a crowd of about 150 people, Stephen Fry was unmistakably impressed. Fantastic surprise, he tweeted. Annabel’s is where Lady Gaga set. She was incredible. What voice . The best possible acoustic set is available.
Sir Rod Steward and his wife Penny Lancaster are frequent visitors and were among the numerous VIP guests, including Andrea Bocelli, Anna Wintour, and Naomi Campbell, who attended the club’s 60th celebration in June 2023.
However, it is difficult to imagine that, in light of Fergie’s current impropriety, it was considered, to be true, that when she and Princess Diana went to Annabel’s dressed as policewomen, with the intention of gatecrashing the former Prince Andrew’s stag party, the venue moved, only for this act to be moved.
Swarovski launches the Black Friday sale on Amazon.
£119
£60
Purchase here
