To walk into the clean lined marble entrance hall is to experience a pitch perfect positioning of modern luxury hotel yet one which has borne witness to over a century of historic and social change; as well as the greatest luminaries to have graced film, stage, music, politics and fashion over these illustrious past 160 years. 19 Century playwright, Oscar Wilde largely embodies the spirit of Café Royal; from drinking absinthe in the gilded Grill Room, first catching the eye of his lover Lord Alfred Douglas in the oak-panelled private rooms in 1891 and finally meeting his ‘fate’ via his nemesis, the Marquess of Queensberry in the fine dining room a year later. British-isms continue as Café Royal refused to shut its doors during the Blitz and World War II years, instead providing refuge for Winston Churchill and other political figures in the form of jazz nights and galvanising stage entertainment. As London became the capital of iconoclast creativity, the storied Café Royal doors welcomed David Bowie with a party to retire his famed alter ego, Ziggy Stardust and word even travelled over the pond, as Hollywood megastar, Elizabeth Taylor sought out the Café Royal as her discretionary first date spot with future husband, Richard Burton. The roll call of names and faces flourishes with each decade, captured in the framed black and white photos adorning the walls of The Gallery space – Brigitte Bardot, Muhammad Ali, Michael Caine, to Princess Diana, Rihanna and more recently a party for former British Vogue editor, Edward Enninful. th
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