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Macho Man. January 2018.
Dear Rowley, I happened to chance upon a clip of the adventurer Bear Grylls on Gogglebox the other night. Not troubled by self-doubt, is he? Must come from being the Christian church’s poster boy for the Alpha cult. Bear is the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Alpha Course, Ayesha Rajmata of Jaipur, Bali, Bear Grylls, Benedict Allen, Bianca Jagger, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, Cartier, Dear Rowley, Diana Vreeland, Elephant Family, Gap, Gogglebox, Harry Fane, Indiana Jones, Indonesia, Jackie O, James Bond, James Sherwood, Letters from Bloomsbury Square, Marie-Helene de Rothschild, Mark Shand, New Guinea, New York, Obsidian St James's, Prince Jagat of Jaipur, Queen Victoria, Robinson Crusoe, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, Sotheby's, Studio 54, Tarzan, The Magic Flute, Van Cleef & Arpels
Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It. October 2017.
Dear Rowley, I have often pondered the theory that virtue is it’s own reward and surmise that, between them, Pearl Bailey and Mae West would have a terribly pithy reply: ‘Between two evils, I always pick the one I haven’t … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Champs Elysees, Christie's, Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck, Count Viel-Castel, Craig Brown, Cullinan III & IV, Dear Rowley, Delacroix, Donnersmarck Diamonds, Donnersmarck yellow diamonds, Duchess of Windsor, Elizabeth Taylor, Empress Eugenie, Esther Lachman, Flaubert, Grand Horizontale, Henri Herz, HM The Queen, Hôtel de la Païva, James Sherwood, Kardashians, L'Oreal, La Païva, Letters from Bloomsbury Square, London, MAe West, Manon Lescaut, Mark Zuckerberg, MArquis de Araujo de Païva, Napoleon III, Nell Gwynn, Noble Jewels, Paris, Pearl Bailey, Portugal, Princess Margaret, Prussia, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen Mary, Royal Opera House, Russia, Schloss Neudeck, Second Empire, Sielsia, Sotheby's, Sotheby's Geneva, The Lion in Winter, Travellers Club, Violetta, Warren Buffett, Zola
Vivien Leigh. September 2017.
Dear Rowley, I recall many years ago filming a documentary about Vivien Leigh for Channel 4 in which I commented that her life and her art on screen were in total harmony: from the skittish, delicious, courageous minx Scarlett O’Hara … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, Art Deco, BFI, Bi-Polar, Blanche Dubois, British Film Institute, Channel 4, Dear Rowley, Duchess of Windsor, Duke of Windsor, Elizabeth Taylor, Elsie Marina, Empress Eugenie of the French, Gavin Lambert, Gone with the Wind, James Sherwood, Jewellery for Gentlemen, Laurence Olivier, Letters from Bloomsbury Square, Longines, manic depression, Margaret Mitchell, Marilyn Monroe, Millennials, Sir Winston Churchill, Sotheby's, Sotheby's Vivien Leigh, Tennessee Williams, The Prince and the Showgirl, The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone, The Sleeping Prince, Vivien Leigh, Vivien Leigh Diamond Bow Brooch, Vivien Leigh Estate Sale
Gold Rush. December 2016.
Dear Rowley, We’d all be forgiven, dahlink, for thinking that Hungarian mantrap Zsa Zsa Gabor had gone to the diamond mine in the sky many years ago. It was rather a surprise to read that the lady actually died only … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Baz Luhrmann, Bernie Madoff, Christie's, Cleopatra, Conrad Hilton, Dear Rowley, Elvis PresleY, Eva Gabor, Father Time, Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Haley's Comet, Henry Fonda, Hollywood, How to Catch A Man, How to Get Rid of A Man, How to Keep A Man, How To Marry A Millionaire, James Sherwood, Jane Avril, Joan Collins, John F Kennedy, John Huston, Kardashians, Kemal Ataturk, Lady Hamilton, Letters from Bloomsbury Square, Madame Pompadour, MAe West, Magda Gabor, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Miss Hungary, Moulin Rouge, My Story, Nicole Kidman, One Lifetime is Not Enough, Orson Welles, Ponzi Scheme, Porfirio Rubirosa, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, Queen of Outer Space, Queen of Sheba, Sophia Loren, Sotheby's, Touch of Evil, Turkey, USA, Wogan, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Zsa Zsa's Complete Guide to Men
The Duchess. January 2016.
Dear Rowley, Much excitement this week when Sotheby’s announced the sale of very carefully chosen pieces belonging to the late Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire on the 2nd of March. As the last surviving Mitford sister, the duchess had lived … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 10th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Adolf Hitler, Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke of Devonshire, Blackshirts, Boadicea, Breguet, Brideshead Revisited, Bruce Weber, Cecil Beaton, Chatsworth House, Christie's, Cleopatra, Dear Rowley, Delevingne sisters, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire sale, Duchess of Windsor, Duchy Originals, Elizabeth Taylor, Evelyn Waugh, James Sherwood, Jessica Mitford, John F Kennedy, Kirsty Wark, Lady Mosley, Letters from Bloomsbury Square, Lucian Freud, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Mario Testino, Mitford Archive, Mitford Sisters, Nancy Mitford, Never A Bore: Deborah Devonshire and Her Set by Cecil Beaton, Norman Parkinson, Old Rectory Edensor, Pamela Mitford, Parisian Couture, Pilsley, Prince of WAles, Sotheby's, Sotheby's Deborah, Stella Tennant, Unity Mitford, Winston Churchill