Women will finally be able to join London’s Garrick Club if member Stephen Fry gets his way.
Chatting at the Fayre of St James’s Christmas Carol Concert, the polymath says he’s confident the 192-year-old club will lift its ban as most members agree it would be better off if it included women.
Pressure has been mounting on officials to change the rules since Joanna Lumley was denied membership in 2011.
‘The Garrick will rub their eyes in amazement that anybody was ever against the idea,’ says Fry. I couldn’t agree more!
Women will finally be able to join London’s Garrick Club if member Stephen Fry gets his way
Pressure has been mounting on Garrick Club officials to change the rules since Joanna Lumley was denied membership in 2011
Go girl…Petra’s got youth market bagged
Petra Ecclestone and her daughter Lavinia
Formula 1 heiress Petra Ecclestone is no stranger to lavish spending – and now it seems she is keen for young girls to follow suit.
The 34-year-old, whose billionaire father Bernie was recently given a suspended sentence for fraud, has entered the business world by setting up a lifestyle brand for young girls called Crickle Daisy, which will sell washbags and make-up brushes.
Petra says the brand has been a ‘creative outlet’ for her and that she has been inspired by her ten-year-old daughter Lavinia, pictured with her, right.
As if London didn’t already have enough members’ clubs, Soho House has expanded. Hush Mayfair, the restaurant launched by Bond actor Sir Roger Moore in 1999, has been bought by the club chain. Hopefully this will be a golden goose for Soho House, which, according to recent accounts, reported a £42 million debt, with directors noting this as a ‘growing concern’.