If Oscar Wilde and Nicky Haslam had sired a love child in the eighteenth century, I think it would have been a Horatio “Horace” Walpole. He had wit, he had style, and he clearly lived by…
Born in Paris, Made in London. |
Splendours of the Subcontinent – Queen’s Gallery
When I went to India, I came back with a couple of silk rugs and my most treasured collection of Ganesha statues. Shame I didn’t know any Maharajas, as I might have returned with some souvenirs…
Le Nozze di Garsington Opera
The French for twilight is crépuscule, a word which conjures up that gleaming, twinkling time of day which is neither light nor dark, when the Goddess Nyx starts her magic dance. And Garsington Opera puts on…
Cultured Kids #23
Welcome to June and to another edition of Cultured Kids, co-hosted with the lovely Emma at A Bavarian Sojourn. As we head into the summer season, there’s lashings of activities for the kids to do this June….
Victorian Afternoon Tea at the V & A Museum
The Victorian Afternoon Tea at the Victoria and Albert Museum had me at seed cake. These two words always bring my childhood back in a whoosh of nostalgia wrapped in a cocoon of Englishness. If seed…
10 children’s books set in London
As a young Parisienne, I would dream of floating across the Channel to London’s rooftops in the company of a sooty Bert and his Mary Poppins. Pan and Tinker Bell would whisk me over to Big…
Review the View at the Theatre
It won’t come as a surprise to you that I spend a lot of time at the theatre. My passion for all things playful started when I was 12 years-old in Paris and I was cast…
Behind the Scenes of the new Royal Academy
The Royal Wedding isn’t the only big event in London on Saturday 19 May. The Royal Academy opens its newly buffed doors to a new two-acre campus with 70% more public spaces and a bridge…
The Art and Craft of William De Morgan
He was the leading ceramic artist of the Victorian age, and his works still adorn Leighton House in Kensington, the Tabard Inn in Chiswick and Postman’s Park in the City of London. Fantastical beasts, parading peacocks,…
Azzedine Scissorhands
He was small in stature, but he was an exalted giant in the world of fashion. Azzedine Alaïa was the wizard who fashioned wearable works of art for the likes of Greta Garbo, Grace Jones, Michelle…