Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II governed as constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states and headed the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations. Supported by her gaffe prone husband, “Brenda,” as Private Eye nicknamed her, served steadfast through good times and bad. She liked to drive a little quickly when given control of the wheel of a Range Rover and also found washing up relaxing. This monarch like no other will never be forgotten.
The nephew of Kuwait’s Amir first introduced his Villa Moda “luxury bazaar” concept in 1992 in a $20 million glass box on the outskirts of Kuwait City. This “Sheikh of Chic” has subsequently revolutionised shopping in the region and is widely lauded as “one of the suavest men on the fashion scene.” Here is a visionary trendsetter who’s changed the Middle East very much for the better.
She called the Conservative Party the “Nasty Party” in a speech in 2002 and now Theresa May makes for a pretty nasty Prime Minister herself. Gaffe prone May failed to appeal to the police in May 2012 when they heckled her at the Police Federation conference and was too busy hosting a party with Lady Meyer later that month to deal with problems at Britain’s borders. Ken Clarke once described her as “childlike”, Joan Collins has made a fool of her on Twitter and it is for dressing like Worzel Gummidge that this hectoring vicar’s daughter is known best. Please, someone, just shoe her out.
Gregory Barker worked for Roman Abramovich at the Sibneft Oil Group and as Energy Minister, took his daschund, Otto, to work at the Houses of Parliament. A Conservative Member of Parliament between 2001 and 2015, Barker lives between Notting Hill and Sussex and is widely cited as the architect of David Cameron’s “green conservatism”.
This Irishman is one of the world’s best-known philanthropic performers. Having invested £56 million in Facebook in 2009, he’s now the richest living musician. His shareholding of 2.3% in the company is now worth some £940 million. This “face of fusion philanthropy” is rarely seen in public without his trademark sunglasses and created his stage name in honour of a hearing aid shop.
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.
This flamboyant fedora wearing tycoon made his fortune selling an estate agency empire just before the 1987 stock market crash. He’s now worth in excess of £100 million. Married twice to a former Miss Blackpool, his 13th century Lancashire home, Claughton Hall, was moved from the bottom of a hill to the top. He served three years in prison for raping a woman who strangely couldn’t remember in which year the crime occurred. Oyston continues to protest his innocence but with his majority stake in the prospering Blackpool F.C. and other interests, he’s got plenty else to keep himself busy.
Considered by many as the pretender to the fortune of his father, Rupert, the phone hacking scandal may have put paid to that. He dropped out of Harvard to start a hip hop label named Rawkus and even gave an airing to a then little known Eminem. Here’s a rebel, complete with two tattoos, who, like a phoenix from the ashes, will undoubtedly rise again.
There is barely anyone this contemporary portraist hasn’t painted. George W. Bush, David Cameron, Minnie Driver, Prince Philip, Paris Hilton and Rupert Murdoch all number amongst his subjects. The son of Conservative politician Tim Yeo, he’s now made it his mission to poke fun at the politicians and personalities he depicts and even went as far as to describe Tony Blair as a “tacit co-conspirator.”
Jeffrey’s invented a lot of tales but is rightly renowned for spinning them brilliantly. This former politician wrote some brilliant diaries whilst in prison and now is mostly likely to be found doing charitable deeds. His shepherd’s pie and Krug parties are still the stuff of legends.