The founder of the world’s first boutique hotel moved to London in 1962 with just £10 to her name. She’s acted with Anton Rodgers in Zodiac and was in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service but it as a designer of global repute that she is best known. Married to Sir Mark Weinberg, the founder of St. James’s Place Wealth Management, Hempel was born on a boat sailing from Papua New Guinea to New Zealand. This society figure’s first hotel, Blakes, created in 1978, is the favourite of personalities such as Sharon Stone and Seal and still sets the barometer for style today.
Tag: London
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Anouska Hempel (Lady Weinberg)
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Peregrine Heathcote
The youngest ever student at the Heatherly College of Arts, Peregrine Heathcote has morphed from portrait painting to a focus on something a little more Gatsby-esque. He grew up on Cheyne Walk and now lives in the country with his charming wife, Louise. This Old Harrovian’s stunning paintings hang in some of the finest collections and when he’s not with his easel, Heathcote is either turning his hand to redeveloping properties or collecting clocks. -
Petronella Wyatt
“Petsy” brilliantly combines life as a writer and journalist with being a social dynamo. When interviewing Janet Anderson, then Labour Minister for Women, she suggested that: “Under Labour, women will become more promiscuous.” Her own relationship with Boris Johnson was a very public affair but the daughter of Lord Wyatt of Weeford deserves to be better known for her superb musings on love, life and society. Here is a firecracker who is definitely worth following. -
Nicholas "Nick" Witchell
This newscaster and royal correspondent reports for the BBC daily. He’s lesser known these days for having sat on a lesbian protestor who invaded his studio in 1988 and for having written a book, The Loch Ness Story, in which he declares his belief in the existence of the creature to be “quite unshakeable.” There’s more to him than meets the eye. -
Vidal Sassoon CBE (1928 – 2012)
He created the “wedge bob” hairstyle and liberated women from the “tyranny of the salon.” Four times married and a Sephardi Jew, Sassoon sold his brand in 1993 to concentrate on philanthropy. The Daily Telegraph once described him as an “anti-fascist warrior-hairdresser” and he will indeed be remembered as a man who led a revolution. -
Benjamin Boateng
A club promoter who thought he was above the law. Found guilty in October 2011 of a pre-planned sexual assault, this former actor was previously accused of a similar crime in South Africa whilst his father was High Commissioner there. That time the case was dropped but this time he’s been jailed for nearly four years. -
Peter Wetherell
He’s the gent who successfully led the campaign against Westminster Council’s ludicrous attempt to expand parking charges in the West End. He’s also Mayfair’s leading estate agent and the man credited with bringing residential life back to the area. He’s well known for wearing red socks and for his love of cigars. -
Nicky Haslam (Nicholas Haslam)
“Britain’s ultimate interior designer” is a man of many talents and guises. Haslam flits from party to party by night, but by day writes, edits and designs. He’s performed cabaret at The Savoy and Bellamy’s and interior watercolour renderings by him are held by the Victoria & Albert Museum. This trendsetter’s life is indeed summed up by the title of one of his books: Sheer Opulence. -
John Simpson CBE
A Chelsea resident who travels the globe reporting from all manner of war zones. He’s avoided bullets in Tiananmen Square and was punched in the stomach by Harold Wilson on his first day working at the BBC. He freely admits to having had tried hallucinogenic drugs. One resulting hallucination consisted of a 6ft goldfish in dark glasses and a straw hat wrapping itself around his shoulders. At any party, he’s naturally the man guests flock to. -
Vicomte Arthur de Soultrait
A televised encounter with Pippa Middleton and an incident with a gun brought this French aristocrat to prominence but behind the wild façade, Arthur de Soultrait has a serious side. (more…)