0:00:06 > 0:00:10Yes, I mean, I think everything came together in a sort of magical way
0:00:10 > 0:00:14because, obviously, it was a decade or a little bit more
0:00:14 > 0:00:19since the war, there was a sense of renewal and rebirth to England.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23The '60s was an extraordinary time to be in London.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27And at the centre of that was Annabel's,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30standing for the old world, but also representing the new.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09Annabel's, I think, is like holding Mark Birley up to a mirror.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11It was an expression of Mark Birley.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17- ARCHIVE:- When you see a picture like this,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20you know at once that Eton is celebrating St Andrew's Day.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Well, we were at school together
0:01:22 > 0:01:25and there was a tradition where all the boys messed together.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28That meant that you had your tea together.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31And that was during the war.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33AIR RAID SIREN BLARES
0:01:34 > 0:01:38I remember looking at London and seeing a sort of pink haze over it.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Yes, I mean, the interesting thing is that the people who
0:01:41 > 0:01:44founded this club were people who had lived through
0:01:44 > 0:01:46the Second World War as children.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48They weren't quite old enough to serve.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50They'd lived through a period of fear
0:01:50 > 0:01:54and a period of actual physical deprivation of food.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59We were friends from the moment we arrived to the moment we left.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03So it was fun.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Mark was very, very thin in those...
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Well, he always was pretty thin and tall, and rather self-effacing.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19His parents were a pretty exciting couple.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23I mean, she was a dashing beauty and he was a very sophisticated,
0:02:23 > 0:02:24very elegant man.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29You know, being a society painter, it all goes to entertaining people
0:02:29 > 0:02:32and making them comfortable whilst they're sitting there.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34I suppose Mark grew up in that atmosphere.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36And being observant, which he was,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40he had a great understanding of how things should look.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Because his mother was so overpowering and so was Maxime, his
0:02:45 > 0:02:50sister, I think he felt rather cowed by their glamour and their presence.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52But I think that's, in a kind of way,
0:02:52 > 0:02:56why he married somebody like Annabel, who had such huge
0:02:56 > 0:03:00glamour and fun about her that he sort of subsumed it.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Mark depended a lot on Annabel
0:03:03 > 0:03:05throughout his life,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08with all the changes that went on in both their lives,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12and I think he really loved her and I think that it was true of her.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16- ARCHIVE:- Before his toast and tea,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19give him a good big plate of Corn Flakes.
0:03:19 > 0:03:20Delicious!
0:03:20 > 0:03:24I am bound to feel a lot of empathy with Mark because I began my career
0:03:24 > 0:03:26in advertising, and that's the first business that he worked in.
0:03:29 > 0:03:30Advertising agencies -
0:03:30 > 0:03:33one of their great skills is the art of presentation.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37So you're always looking for the level of excellence that's
0:03:37 > 0:03:40better than your competitors. I think he had that innate skill.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43That's probably why he suited them and they suited him.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47In those days, Mr Birley used to own
0:03:47 > 0:03:52Hermes shop in Jermyn Street, in the Arcade.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55ADVERT IN FRENCH
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Yes, I found the shop. It wasn't suitable as a Hermes shop because
0:04:05 > 0:04:09it had ties downstairs and there wasn't room to display stuff.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12And people would come in and nick a tie and then bugger off!
0:04:14 > 0:04:15I met him in Arlington Street.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18I lived in Arlington Street, which was just round the corner,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21and he said, "Have you got a minute? I want to show you something."
0:04:21 > 0:04:25So we walked down to Berkeley Square
0:04:25 > 0:04:28and into that beautiful house,
0:04:28 > 0:04:30and down into the basement.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35And I remember the light bulbs looped round into all those vaults,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37which were just wine cellars.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40And he said, "I'm going to start a nightclub."
0:04:40 > 0:04:41CORK POPS
0:04:43 > 0:04:47Annabel's was much more stylish than any club had ever been before.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51I think that Mark saw that these rather dowdy,
0:04:51 > 0:04:56long-established places were ripe for superseding.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59400 was awful little pink lights...
0:04:59 > 0:05:02lampshades on the table. You had to have...
0:05:02 > 0:05:05The law said you had to eat something, so you had
0:05:05 > 0:05:08a plate of sandwiches, you had your own bottle with your name on it.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10You know, it wasn't very long after the war, the whole thing,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13and I think people thought nothing would ever be nice again,
0:05:13 > 0:05:14there would be no luxury,
0:05:14 > 0:05:19no building wonderful rooms or gilding rooms or unique plasterwork
0:05:19 > 0:05:23or anything like that and people thought it would never happen again.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28My father's role was to convert the space into something usable,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31commercially, for Mark Birley and John Aspinall.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35John Aspinall was a buccaneering man who'd been running casino nights
0:05:35 > 0:05:39one step ahead of the gambling legislation of the time.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Aspinall used to go and take, you know, an apartment or
0:05:44 > 0:05:48somebody's flat or a country house and have a gambling evening.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I think that was the way you avoided getting into trouble with the law.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54And it was fun cos it was illegal, you know,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56like being gay was illegal. It was much more fun.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00By 1961, the law had moved on and it was possible to look to
0:06:00 > 0:06:03establish a permanent casino.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08Aspinall knew the very good social context came from Mark,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12and so, he thought for him to have the nightclub in the basement,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15it would bring in exactly the kind of crowd that he wanted to
0:06:15 > 0:06:18make the Clermont fashionable and good-looking.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21When they first looked at the building, there was
0:06:21 > 0:06:24a small narrow passageway through to the mew to the back,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and apparently, it was my father who said, "We must dig out
0:06:27 > 0:06:31"the entire garden and get a really decent space out of this."
0:06:38 > 0:06:42It became something twice as large, with a great deal more -
0:06:42 > 0:06:44a restaurant, a dance floor, a complete nightclub,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48as it were, something that really needed a proper name.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58The original membership list was fairly small and cost about £5.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Don't forget, they were all his friends.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06This was strictly for the top-society, elegant people.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Well, when he first opened,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11he was determined to open the best nightclub in London.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14And to have the best nightclub in London,
0:07:14 > 0:07:15he wanted to get the best staff.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17And he didn't think for one moment that or
0:07:17 > 0:07:20at any particular moment that he had all the best there was,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23so he would quite selfishly go to other establishments
0:07:23 > 0:07:25and if he saw somebody was really good, he'd hire him.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28I think if you were a restaurant in those days and you saw
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Mark Birley coming to lunch, you might have got slightly nervous!
0:07:31 > 0:07:36He went to the Mirabelle club and got Louis Emanuelli,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Nando and Michael.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43He went to Jules Bar in Jermyn Street and got
0:07:43 > 0:07:45George and Sidney from there.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50To be a member of staff on a Birley establishment
0:07:50 > 0:07:53was like being in the Royal household.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56He recruited Mabel, the ladies' toilet attendant, from Wilton's.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58She'd been there for years.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Mabel - wonderful. Could be very strict.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03Girls used to come and go and sit with Mabel and talk to her.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Mabel knew everything. She was just wonderful, though.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08They'd tell her whether they were having abortions or
0:08:08 > 0:08:11whether a divorce was coming up or whether they'd
0:08:11 > 0:08:16lost their lover or whether their fur coat's hem was coming down.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19I remember Mabel telling me that somebody had brought their baby in
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and the baby had been squirreled away, underneath the coats.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24And I don't think Mabel was ever seen by daylight!
0:08:24 > 0:08:27I used to say to her, "Mabel, what do you do when you go home?
0:08:27 > 0:08:29"Do you have a nice cup of tea or something like that?"
0:08:29 > 0:08:32She said, "No way! Double whiskies! Double whiskies!
0:08:32 > 0:08:34"The best you have, and you sleep like a log."
0:08:34 > 0:08:37She used to say it to me, honestly!
0:08:37 > 0:08:40I was at the very, very opening night of Annabel's.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43I was working on Vogue in New York. I heard, I think,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46from my brother or somebody that Mark was opening this club.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48So I immediately called Diana Vreeland.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49And she said, "Get it photographed!"
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Annabel's was one of the first places to have a twin deck.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11He had them flown over almost daily, I think,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14from Sam Goody's, the great record shop on Broadway.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17And the other genius about the whole place was the fact that you
0:09:17 > 0:09:19went down two steps onto the dance floor.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22You felt, therefore, much more contained and private.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26I think he understood that dance floors were about sex
0:09:26 > 0:09:30and that, like sex, most people don't want to be watched having it!
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Everybody does, from the beginning, as far as I remember,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36cos the miniskirt had just come in, so legs were around.
0:09:36 > 0:09:37And he liked that.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40And London suddenly became the centre of things musical.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44But Mark got the message pretty quick and put it out there
0:09:44 > 0:09:47and booked those extraordinary acts.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Ray Charles, I'm his man. You know, he called me "my man".
0:09:53 > 0:09:58Ella, my favourite singer. Ella. Loved her, loved her!
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Well, I remember Ike and Tina Turner coming. That was extraordinary.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09His office upstairs became the changing rooms,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12cos you could get up to his office upstairs.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Gossip was that she'd left it in a frightful mess. I don't know whether
0:10:15 > 0:10:17that's true or not, but there was make-up artists
0:10:17 > 0:10:19and goodness knows what going on upstairs.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22The proximity of the performer -
0:10:22 > 0:10:25it's like having the Beatles as close as you are to me.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28I asked Mark once if it was true that the Beatles had been
0:10:28 > 0:10:32turned away from Annabel's because they weren't wearing ties.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35"Dear Sir, congratulations. How refreshing it was..."
0:10:35 > 0:10:36"How refreshing, on the 2nd of Jan,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39"to read in the Daily Express of your doorman's guts!"
0:10:39 > 0:10:42And he said, "No, absolutely not. That's complete rubbish!
0:10:42 > 0:10:44"It's cos they weren't wearing shoes."
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Well, the Beatles were very regular attenders at Annabel's
0:10:47 > 0:10:51because I think it was probably the only place they went to where
0:10:51 > 0:10:53they were not mobbed.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55And sometimes, we would smuggle them out of the back door.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57SCREAMING
0:10:57 > 0:11:01I'm not sure that chasing celebrities even existed then.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04I think celebrities just came because they'd enjoyed it.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Certainly, Mark would woo them.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09And I think he just thought The Beatles were
0:11:09 > 0:11:11a scruffy lot of silly boys.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14And the other thing that was so important was the fact that he
0:11:14 > 0:11:17was so far-seeing, he brought in people like...
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Well, he brought the Russians, so we had this wonderful Russian week.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Harry Hambledon, who was a great friend of Mark's,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32had a table every night and dressed in Russian clothes.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35I mean, he really got into the feel of it.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38All the waiters had Russian shirts and that.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Yeah, I was dressed as a Russian Cossack.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44I'll never forget - the menu was printed in Russian
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and people would look knowledgeably at the menu
0:11:47 > 0:11:50and then order the date, top of the menu!
0:12:00 > 0:12:04I don't think Mark really ever feared or worried about anybody,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07but he did mind desperately about his food
0:12:07 > 0:12:09and that everything was perfect.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14He thought that Elizabeth David was the acme of English food.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16She was brilliant at what she did,
0:12:16 > 0:12:21but didn't make a huge fuss about it. She was just the best.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24"Dear Mark, herewith instalment a) of my notes on Annabel's menu...
0:12:24 > 0:12:27"I'm afraid the material I'm sending you is still in a rather rough form,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29"and is based on personal taste...
0:12:29 > 0:12:31"As I see it, a well-composed restaurant menu should,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34"a) Arouse the customer's appetite at the very first glance...
0:12:34 > 0:12:37"The first course dishes should be set out with the utmost precision and clarity...
0:12:37 > 0:12:40"No need to go on about the melon or what kind it is.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43"It should be understood that Annabel's provides the best of what's going."
0:12:43 > 0:12:46When Elizabeth David helped initially with the menus
0:12:46 > 0:12:50and things, it introduced a new way of dining.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Well, just think about how many lemons that you have been to
0:12:53 > 0:12:58restaurants in your life now and seen wrapped in bits of muslin,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00and you just wonder where that came from.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03He was very good at finding that sort of new thing and,
0:13:03 > 0:13:08as you say, mixing it with country house sort of puddings and...
0:13:08 > 0:13:12I don't know, plum duff and the famous chocolate ice cream,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15which is meant to be made with Bovril.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Mark didn't like fussy food.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20I mean, his favourite thing would have been shepherd's pie,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23chicken hash, delicious lamb cutlets.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26It wasn't about sort of what I call cloche-lifting.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29There was no moment when waiters would come
0:13:29 > 0:13:32and lift things off and reveal this food.
0:13:32 > 0:13:33It was all supposed to just be seamless,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36it was supposed to be like, if you were lucky, you'd get at home.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38And that's what most people like.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40They didn't want all this fancy French stuff,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43everything covered "en gelee". It wasn't of any interest to them.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47They also wanted to drink fantastic wines - and he had a marvellous wine cellar -
0:13:47 > 0:13:49and they wanted to drink lots of champagne.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54If you wanted to take somebody out to dinner
0:13:54 > 0:13:56and you wanted to impress some girl, you could say,
0:13:56 > 0:13:58"Let's go to Annabel's," and there was an immediate
0:13:58 > 0:14:00sort of change of gear.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02It was hugely spoiling to be taken there,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05because it was definitely a step up.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07And if you were asked to Annabel's,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11you put on pretty clothes or good clothes, or whatever.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12I mean, that was...
0:14:12 > 0:14:15You didn't sort of just go there after work with your knapsack.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18To go to the 'Bel's, it was called the 'Bel's, all the sort of
0:14:18 > 0:14:22smart debutants called it... "I'm going to the 'Bel's tonight!"
0:14:22 > 0:14:24And they planned their outfits and had their hair done
0:14:24 > 0:14:26and looked the best they possibly could.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29You didn't go just, "Oh, I'm going to go to Annabel's tonight."
0:14:29 > 0:14:33It was a real destination. It was a real excitement to be going.
0:14:33 > 0:14:34"For one memorable night,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38"Annabel's lovely British lustre was outshone by Italian fascinations.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41"Under white tenting, the Roman designer Valentino
0:14:41 > 0:14:45"showed his spring collection of floaty dresses, butterfly culottes
0:14:45 > 0:14:47"and melting prints hung with chains.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49"The Englishmen loved it, so did the Florentines.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52"Annabel's had never been more gala."
0:14:52 > 0:14:55All those different worlds were starting to collide -
0:14:55 > 0:14:58hairdressers were suddenly equally as famous as duchesses
0:14:58 > 0:15:03and, to the outside eye, Annabel's was where all those people went.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05Well, I first met him...
0:15:05 > 0:15:08My brother and sister-in-law gave a dinner and he was there.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12And I said to him that I thought the alcoves either side of the bar
0:15:12 > 0:15:15were actually not really very interesting.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18And he just turned round to me and said, "Well, if you think you're
0:15:18 > 0:15:21"so clever," perhaps he used an expletive there, "do it yourself!"
0:15:21 > 0:15:23So I thought, "OK, I will!"
0:15:23 > 0:15:26That's very much in Mark's character.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29He was prepared to take advice only if he registered that
0:15:29 > 0:15:32the person was absolutely top of what they did.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38One year, Mark went to Barling in Mount Street and bought a Buddha.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40And then he asked me what to do with it.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44I must say, it was the most peaceful creature, you know, when it arrived.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47There is something about a Buddha that is just simply amazing.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Anyway, we painted the room this fabulous-coloured red,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53and Mark had a wonderful collection of Tchelitchew
0:15:53 > 0:15:55and Russian pictures, which also went in there.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59And I don't think anybody had thought of collecting those before.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02I think he saw the world as a sort of bric-a-brac store where
0:16:02 > 0:16:03you collected bits and pieces.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Say you'd found a piece of Indian material, Chinese material,
0:16:07 > 0:16:12a very modern material, and he mixed and matched all sorts of things.
0:16:12 > 0:16:13Every time he went off to Italy,
0:16:13 > 0:16:17he bought a new tablecloth or a new set of this or that.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20He adored shopping and loved... I mean, it's great fun, isn't it,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23to shop for something which is making money?
0:16:23 > 0:16:25And you continually improve it.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29I mean, he got to travel everywhere.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33You see him one day, he's in France, the next day, you see him in Italy,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36the next day, you see him in America, New York, in LA.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40And every time he'd go - martini, that's his favourite,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42vodka martini, there was no gin.
0:16:42 > 0:16:48He had a knowledge of paintings, wines, food, just like James Bond!
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Mark adored skiing.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04He wasn't a great skier, but he loved it,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06he loved the whole atmosphere.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09The British Olympic ski team - he had affection for them,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12so he would arrange a wonderful raffle.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15I mean, you know, the raffle prizes were typical Mark.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19I knew a friend who won a Cadillac for the first prize
0:17:19 > 0:17:21and the second prize was a Riva. Can you imagine?
0:17:25 > 0:17:29People now think that Annabel's was an instant success, and it wasn't.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35It didn't get really solidly based, financially,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37until towards the end of the first decade.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41The private dining room was created in 1970,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44seven years after the founding of Annabel's.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47And I think you can see it as an expression of confidence,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50that the brand was working, the club was established,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52they could actually, you know,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56offer their members something substantive and different.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00And although there were economic problems in the UK,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03there were not economic problems at Annabel's.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07- ARCHIVE:- But I imagine Berkeley Square's famous nightingale
0:18:07 > 0:18:09flew away weeks ago.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19- ARCHIVE:- So far, about 30 of Britain's 1,400 local authorities
0:18:19 > 0:18:22have capitulated to the demands of the unions
0:18:22 > 0:18:24and paid the 55 shilling rise.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Oh, the Labour MPs and Labour ministers
0:18:27 > 0:18:31and trade union officials and the dyed-in-the-wool socialists who
0:18:31 > 0:18:35we took out absolutely adored going to Annabel's for a drink.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37They absolutely loved it!
0:18:37 > 0:18:41But then, most socialists are champagne socialists(!)
0:18:41 > 0:18:46The '70s was very, very tough, but Annabel's,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49it kept everything as it was supposed to be.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01It really was a club in a real sense of the word -
0:19:01 > 0:19:04that the members enjoyed being together.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06And celebrating the tenth anniversary
0:19:06 > 0:19:09was something that everybody wanted to be involved in.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14And by this stage, we had a position where we had
0:19:14 > 0:19:17a significant waiting list for membership -
0:19:17 > 0:19:20probably over 1,500, and sometimes, it was over 2,000.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26What was great for me is that I felt very anonymous there,
0:19:26 > 0:19:31and having embraced kind of fame in the early '70s
0:19:31 > 0:19:34in quite a big way in England, I felt there were very few
0:19:34 > 0:19:37places I could go where I could feel relaxed, you know?
0:19:37 > 0:19:41I remember the first time that I walked into Annabel's.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44It was 1970.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49And I was making my second movie. And I'd never been to London.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53And I just... I remember going into this club
0:19:53 > 0:19:56and feeling like I was absolutely transported.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59I remember when it was pointed out to me where it was, I thought
0:19:59 > 0:20:03it was that wonderful Georgian house which was the Clermont, in fact.
0:20:03 > 0:20:04So it was disappointing
0:20:04 > 0:20:07when you suddenly realised that you were going down the basement.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10But that was the remarkable thing about it,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12because through the door,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16you suddenly felt that it was
0:20:16 > 0:20:21more of an Aladdin's cave, and it was a surprisingly luxurious space.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26It was like an extraordinarily designed and conceived place,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29where you never really wanted to leave.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It was warm - the colours, the reds.
0:20:33 > 0:20:34It had this elegance to it,
0:20:34 > 0:20:38and yet you felt like you could put your feet up.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40It was a very sexy decor.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Brilliantly done.
0:20:42 > 0:20:43Mark was very aware of the fact
0:20:43 > 0:20:48that decor must make people look prettier, beyond anything else,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51and his lighting and the light bouncing off the brass,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54it's all kind of smoke and mirrors department,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57which was brilliant, with these beautiful faces in it.
0:20:57 > 0:20:58You saw reflections in it, slightly.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02You weren't quite sure who was buried where,
0:21:02 > 0:21:03so it became mysterious.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Really, the point of Annabel's was it was romantic
0:21:07 > 0:21:08and I'll bet you'll find
0:21:08 > 0:21:11that a great many marriages were proposed in that room.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14This place, it's romance.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17They have romances all the time going on here.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21That's the whole point of a nightclub, isn't it?
0:21:21 > 0:21:25I got engaged in Annabel's. I think thousands of people did.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29So many people fall in love, they get married, then divorced,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32they're coming back again together, then the children.
0:21:32 > 0:21:33This is the place.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Sometimes they'd come in
0:21:35 > 0:21:38and they weren't with their husbands, you know?
0:21:38 > 0:21:39They would come in and they knew
0:21:39 > 0:21:41that I knew they weren't with their husbands
0:21:41 > 0:21:43when they walked through the door.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46You made sure you didn't call them Mrs, their right name
0:21:46 > 0:21:50when they went out, because they weren't always with their Mr.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Working-class people, if they divorce their wife,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55they don't ever want to seem them again.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59"Got rid of her, she's gone," or "Got rid of him, he's gone."
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Society people have got a different way of life.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07It's not the end of the world if you've divorced somebody.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09They still respected each other.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15Any club owner wants to inject a roguish glamour into it
0:22:15 > 0:22:17from time to time, and Mark was no exception.
0:22:17 > 0:22:23I didn't think he consciously peppered the membership in that way,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26but there were certainly some fantastic Shakespearean figures
0:22:26 > 0:22:28around the place.
0:22:29 > 0:22:36One day, Tim Hanbury and all the crowd who used to come here,
0:22:36 > 0:22:38they nicked a bus.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41The bus driver had gone somewhere, I don't know where,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45but Tim Hanbury got in the bus and drove the bus off
0:22:45 > 0:22:48- round the West End. - "Nando, Nando quick!" "What?"
0:22:48 > 0:22:50"Take the bus!" "What bus?"
0:22:51 > 0:22:56And a bus full of Chinese... or Japanese tourists.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58So I came down to Tim Hanbury, I said,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00"Mr Hanbury, West End Central are on the line
0:23:00 > 0:23:02"and they'd like to have a word with you."
0:23:02 > 0:23:04West End Central Police Station, that is.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06"Who drove the bus up?" I said, "I drove the bus up."
0:23:06 > 0:23:08"No, who drove it here?"
0:23:08 > 0:23:09I said, "I dunno."
0:23:09 > 0:23:12And he ran out of the club and we didn't see him for a week,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15and word had it that he'd flown out the country.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19- John Wayne came in one night. - Oh, John Wayne was funny, wasn't he?
0:23:19 > 0:23:22- John Wayne. - John Wayne got very drunk.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24He was in here in the bar
0:23:24 > 0:23:25trying to light a cigar.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27He broke three of them in the process,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30that shows you how drunk he was.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34John Wayne, he went inside the Buddha Room
0:23:34 > 0:23:38trying to take the nipples of a lady,
0:23:38 > 0:23:43you know, playing with her nipples there and I had to stop him.
0:23:43 > 0:23:44I said, "What are you doing?!"
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Then he said, "All right, we'll go to the dance floor."
0:23:47 > 0:23:50- Then he came out into the cloakroom. - You ran in there, didn't you?
0:23:50 > 0:23:54I went in there to look after him, make sure he was all right.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56He went up to the stand-ups
0:23:56 > 0:23:59and he looked round to this guy next to him and he said,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03"You can tell your buddies you hung out with John Wayne."
0:24:03 > 0:24:06One of the things Mark was virulent about
0:24:06 > 0:24:08was having really beautiful men's loos.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12They are the best men's loos anywhere.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14And the one in Annabel's was particularly good.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18It had lots of cartoons among other things, great cartoons.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21But there was also a ticker tape machine
0:24:21 > 0:24:25that brought the stock market news from Tokyo and New York.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27It'd be going "Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick"
0:24:27 > 0:24:28all the time, "Tick-tick-tick-tick."
0:24:28 > 0:24:30People would go in and read it
0:24:30 > 0:24:33and either kill themselves or order more champagne.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35SIRENS WAIL
0:24:35 > 0:24:37- REPORTER:- This was a carbon copy of the attack
0:24:37 > 0:24:40on another London restaurant just six days ago.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42There was no warning and the bomb,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45a three-pounder packed with ball bearings and nuts and bolts,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48was hurled through a window.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50There was a period during the Irish Troubles
0:24:50 > 0:24:55when the IRA were clearly going to bomb places in London and did so.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Well, after Scott's was blown up in Mount Street,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00we had to take precautions
0:25:00 > 0:25:04and Mr Birley had sandbags put up outside the club.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Discreet sandbags, but sandbags nevertheless.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12We used to get a few phone calls, the IRA saying,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16"Better empty Annabel's, cos we're going to blow it up."
0:25:16 > 0:25:19I think he would have been deeply offended if he wasn't on the list
0:25:19 > 0:25:22and I think people who went there probably would be offended by it.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24But he was unquestionably on the list.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27The police said lock the doors, no coats to be given out,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29everybody to go at once
0:25:29 > 0:25:31and said the girls had to go out without their minks on
0:25:31 > 0:25:33and freeze up there for a while.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37The police came down here with dogs, sniffer dogs,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40went through the place, cleared out.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Nice and calm, like nothing happened.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45I mean, this is the stiff British upper lip
0:25:45 > 0:25:48and all those things that, sadly, have gone out of our life.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59The reason people went to Annabel's was because it was
0:25:59 > 0:26:04a mark of your status, a mark of your being part of society,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06and because it was regarded
0:26:06 > 0:26:08by the people that I liked and wanted to mix with
0:26:08 > 0:26:10as THE best nightclub in the world.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Mark was a Conservative, as am I,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19and the club had a Conservative atmosphere.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23He celebrated election nights when we won,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26because he was a dyed-in-the-wool Tory
0:26:26 > 0:26:27and he wanted us to win the elections.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29CHEERING
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Absolutely, I was here when Margaret Thatcher won,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38and I was serving here big magnums of champagne.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45While he was an elitist, he was perfectly happy
0:26:45 > 0:26:48for people from different environments to join the elite,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50but that was the rule - you had to join the elite, not kill it.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54Not try and attack it or change it, or make it into something it wasn't.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09I think the '80s, that was the most fantastic years
0:27:09 > 0:27:10in my life.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12Everybody enjoying themselves,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15everybody making so much money everywhere.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18It's true, in the '80s, the City was doing very well
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and so, presumably, everyone was doing well,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25because everyone that came in had plenty of money to spend.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28They used to come and say, "Nando, can I have my Bentley?"
0:27:28 > 0:27:30I used to say, "Yes, sir, which one?"
0:27:30 > 0:27:33"The grey one." I'd say, "Well, I've got three grey ones."
0:27:35 > 0:27:37I was here for about three or four months,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41kind of getting my feet in, feeling good, and all of a sudden,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43one waiter comes and says, "Hey, Cass, you know what?
0:27:43 > 0:27:46"That's Prince Andrew here." I said, "Oh, my God, I feel so proud.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50"I'm actually playing music for royalty and stuff like this."
0:27:50 > 0:27:51So I went over.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53"How are you doing, Your Highness?"
0:27:53 > 0:27:55He looked at me and said,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58"I'm doing well, thank you very much."
0:27:58 > 0:27:59I said, "Are you digging the sounds?"
0:27:59 > 0:28:02He said, "I think the music is quite good, actually."
0:28:02 > 0:28:04I said, "Hang in there, I'll be right back."
0:28:04 > 0:28:07So I brought him a couple of cassettes, you know,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09and he stood up.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11He shook my hand like a brother, he said,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13IN PLUMMY VOICE: "Thank you awfully."
0:28:15 > 0:28:16I said, "Right on!"
0:28:18 > 0:28:22So many titled people came in, it was unbelievable.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27In fact, one night, we had three kings in Annabel's at one time.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31I served the King of Morocco and I served the Shah of Iran.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Maktoum used to come in. He was quite a regular customer.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38And on his way, he came out to the toilet, he always had a minder
0:28:38 > 0:28:42showing him the way, leading him the way to the toilet.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44I said, "Your Highness,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47"could you tell me who's going to win the race tomorrow?"
0:28:47 > 0:28:51And he said, "I'm not going to say the favourite,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55"I'm going to give you this name, and you put this £50 on it,"
0:28:55 > 0:28:58and it was a 14-1 winner I got.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02I'll never forget that, and he was an actual lovely, lovely man,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06but he looked so miserable, didn't he? Always looked miserable,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08but he wasn't, he was so lovely.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22The fact that the royal family, well, members of it,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25used the club so much was because they felt comfortable.
0:29:25 > 0:29:26I liked Fergie.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28Fergie was cool.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31It was good fun. They were like the young lads that used to come in.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33They were a laugh.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35Oh, she was a lovely lady, Diana.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38I remember Diana. She used to come in,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40"Oh, Cass, would you play my music?"
0:29:41 > 0:29:45Whenever she's dancing, she always takes her shoes off.
0:29:45 > 0:29:46And she likes to pirouette
0:29:46 > 0:29:49and spin around, and he was doing all the business.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52She used to love dancing with Prince Charles here.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54They felt able to be themselves,
0:29:54 > 0:29:56they weren't in the glare of publicity,
0:29:56 > 0:29:58they felt that they were discreet,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01they felt that people who'd been there would be discreet,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04and they were amongst people who knew how to behave.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08You know, for Annabel's, everybody would be treated the same.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12There's no sort of... Doesn't matter whether it's a big tip,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15a big shot or a small shot, it doesn't matter.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18I brought a lot of movie stars to Annabel's over the years
0:30:18 > 0:30:21because there wasn't another place for them
0:30:21 > 0:30:24to feel really comfortable at the time,
0:30:24 > 0:30:26and I like it.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31The stars were unbelievable that came into me.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33Diana Ross would walk in the club.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36She'd walk straight into the club, straight onto the dance floor.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40Loved dancing - "Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu," chipping on the floor.
0:30:40 > 0:30:41Tony Curtis,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43Gregory Peck.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47I thought to myself, "I'm in a dream."
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Annabel's was great because no paparazzi,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52no journalists were in there.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56Save for Nigel Dempster, of course!
0:30:56 > 0:30:59You know, in the unusual circumstances when somebody
0:30:59 > 0:31:04might have behaved badly at Annabel's, and I'm sure they did,
0:31:04 > 0:31:08you wouldn't expect to see it in the Daily Mail the next day,
0:31:08 > 0:31:09or on the morning news.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Joan Collins was in here one night, dancing with someone or other,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14I don't know who.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17But someone had managed to get in the club,
0:31:17 > 0:31:19a guest of a member, presumably,
0:31:19 > 0:31:20with a camera in his pocket
0:31:20 > 0:31:24and he took a photograph of Joan Collins on the dance floor
0:31:24 > 0:31:26- and rushed out.- All of a sudden,
0:31:26 > 0:31:28one of the receptionists said,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31"Quick, Nando, that's a photographer running up."
0:31:31 > 0:31:32I snatched the camera off of him,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34he's grabbed me round the neck
0:31:34 > 0:31:36and I just gave him a dig,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38and the photographer's on the floor
0:31:38 > 0:31:41and they're looking for the camera, found his camera,
0:31:41 > 0:31:42tore the film out
0:31:42 > 0:31:45and just walked back slowly, you know?
0:31:45 > 0:31:49A couple of days later, there was a big article in the paper
0:31:49 > 0:31:52saying, "The gorillas from Annabel's."
0:31:52 > 0:31:55People felt safe when they went there.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58They knew that they were going to be taken care of.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09Frank Sinatra, when he's in London,
0:32:09 > 0:32:10this is his club.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13His agent or whoever phoned up from the Royal Albert Hall
0:32:13 > 0:32:15where he'd been performing and said,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19"Can Mr Sinatra come down and change when he gets down there?
0:32:19 > 0:32:23"He's coming off of stage in a limo, coming straight here."
0:32:23 > 0:32:25I said, "Yes, of course there's somewhere he can change,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28"out the back in the cloakroom," so he came. And Sinatra -
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Frank Sinatra - was my idol, since I was a young lad.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34He came down, took his shirt off,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37put a clean shirt on, I did his cuff links up for him,
0:32:37 > 0:32:39he gave me a 100 tip,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41which was very nice.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44Frank Sinatra, he said to Louis,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47- "Luigi..." - HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:32:47 > 0:32:49That's just Italian.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51He said, "What do you think of me?"
0:32:53 > 0:32:56"Mr Sinatra, you are the greatest...
0:32:58 > 0:33:00"..Italian since Mussolini."
0:33:03 > 0:33:05"Oh, that's what you think of me?"
0:33:05 > 0:33:06I said, "Yes."
0:33:06 > 0:33:08As far as Annabel's is concerned,
0:33:08 > 0:33:10Louis would be the name that I remember the most.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12Everybody remembers Louis.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16Shirley Bassey was banned from Annabel's for many, many years.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20- You know that, do you?- Because she kicked Louis Emanuelli up the arse.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Like all the great maitre d's of the world,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29he had a wonderful palm,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32which recognised exactly the denomination of note
0:33:32 > 0:33:34that you had palmed off to him.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37He ruled the restaurant with a rod of iron,
0:33:37 > 0:33:39all the staff were scared of him,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41but he was very, very good.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54The John Ward triptych of Annabel's was commissioned
0:33:54 > 0:33:57to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the club.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01And it's an interesting picture, cos all the founder members are there.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04They were all friends, which was a significant point.
0:34:04 > 0:34:05Each one knew each other.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10James Hanson, Harry Hambleden,
0:34:10 > 0:34:11George Galitzine.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14If you look at Annabel,
0:34:14 > 0:34:18she's looking across the room, past everybody,
0:34:18 > 0:34:23and Mark is just recognising her, but not doing it too positively.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27That was a sort of, I suppose,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30acknowledgment of their relationship.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37BRAZILIAN CARNIVAL MUSIC
0:34:39 > 0:34:43The Brazil nights were out of sight.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45- The dancers... - HE CHUCKLES
0:34:45 > 0:34:49I have another story. They were beautiful!
0:34:49 > 0:34:51Practically naked. I mean, people loved it.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54They always used to come in every night through the front.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57The only trouble with that is their headgear was so high
0:34:57 > 0:35:01that they had a job getting in the door.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04And this guy did some things with a football, it was something else.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10The people, they just sat there, they all sort of...
0:35:10 > 0:35:13I mean, the members used to love...
0:35:13 > 0:35:16every minute.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21The Brazil week was really the last of the Birley-type events,
0:35:21 > 0:35:23where he did what he wanted to do
0:35:23 > 0:35:25and they got more and more ambitious,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28more and more spectacular,
0:35:28 > 0:35:30and inevitably, more expensive.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36I think every decade was a success for the club,
0:35:36 > 0:35:40but the '80s did of course have one huge dark spot in it,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43which was the collapse of Lloyds,
0:35:43 > 0:35:46which cut a massive swathe through a lot of people
0:35:46 > 0:35:51who regarded membership of Lloyds as being school fees and fund money.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55Lloyds has indeed had terrible losses in the last four years,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58but it does demonstrate the strength of the Lloyds system.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00We are very much still here.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03We do pass all the necessary solvency tests.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06It has indeed been very painful for our members, but we will
0:36:06 > 0:36:09trade forward as certainly tomorrow as we have for
0:36:09 > 0:36:11the last 300-odd years.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14The Lloyd's crash in the early '90s was significant because a lot of
0:36:14 > 0:36:18our members lost serious amounts of cash.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21And it impacted, I think,
0:36:21 > 0:36:25on Mark, in a way.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28And he had, actually, a lot of personal friends who suffered
0:36:28 > 0:36:30serious financial loss.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32And it made him more cautious.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35He suddenly had an sudden attack of credit consciousness
0:36:35 > 0:36:39and he decided everybody should pay their bills on time.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43Rather than waiting for the bills to go to the office and then wait
0:36:43 > 0:36:45three months for the account department to pay it,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48he banned credit.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51So you could no longer just sign the bill, which is what most of
0:36:51 > 0:36:52us did, just sign the bill in his
0:36:52 > 0:36:54establishments and pay them later on.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57And of course at the end of the month, when the bill came,
0:36:57 > 0:36:58it was an absolute shocker.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02So we were a bit reckless at times,
0:37:02 > 0:37:06but occasionally we got chased up by the accounts department.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11I, myself, I was panicked.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13I said, "My God, what am I going to do?"
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Because I cannot make money to pay the meter.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21How are you going to pay the mortgage? God help us.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25You know, I don't know how, but we went through.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27We went through that miserable time.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Annabel's, for me and my sisters and my family, was folklore.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39My grandfather, who was a wonderful man called Major Bruce Shand,
0:37:39 > 0:37:41whose actual offices were Harry's Bar,
0:37:41 > 0:37:44you know, a stone's through from 44 Berkeley Square,
0:37:44 > 0:37:48used to read my cousin and I, Tom Parker Bowles,
0:37:48 > 0:37:51bedtime stories and the stories were
0:37:51 > 0:37:54always about these two boys called Bom and Ten
0:37:54 > 0:37:58who'd have these, you know, rumbustious adventures.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00They'd always end up in London,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03and they'd always end up in this mythical place called Annabel's.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05So as a five-year-old boy,
0:38:05 > 0:38:08I knew but didn't know about this place called Annabel's.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11It was this land where, with him,
0:38:11 > 0:38:15Tizer flowed from every fountain.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18It was, like, kind of... Willy Wonka's paradise.
0:38:18 > 0:38:23I'd walked past this sentry box on Berkeley Square several times,
0:38:23 > 0:38:25wondering what it was.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28I remember being taken to Annabel's for the first time
0:38:28 > 0:38:32at the age of 18, and it had that sort of Narnia-like feel to it.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35What lay behind the sentry box?
0:38:35 > 0:38:37Walking into it the first time and unlocking
0:38:37 > 0:38:40this almost secret world.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44And it was incredibly exciting and had that sense of a speakeasy.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46That's something we've developed with our own business.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Certainly young people were encouraged to join.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51We were always very interested in them
0:38:51 > 0:38:53because they were the lifeblood,
0:38:53 > 0:38:55they were the future of the club.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57I'd work for Mr Birley for all those years
0:38:57 > 0:38:59and then I recommended my son.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02You know, he took that as read.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05You know, if it's good enough for me, it's good enough for him.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07No, he wouldn't take you on just
0:39:07 > 0:39:11because you were related family.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15He had to make sure you were top of your game.
0:39:15 > 0:39:16Of course you had to have new blood.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20There's no point fossilising with a whole lot of people of the same age,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22who would then die off and you'll be left with nothing.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26The dress code is an example of Mark feeling that we needed to keep up
0:39:26 > 0:39:30with the times. It was an experiment. It also was a disaster.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33The British are very good with uniforms.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35The minute you say to them,
0:39:35 > 0:39:39"You're on your own, do what you want,"
0:39:39 > 0:39:41it's not always successful.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46Men of course struggled with how to look cool and didn't succeed.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48I think it ran for two or three months and then went back to
0:39:48 > 0:39:51where it was for some time.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54That's the international way that everything is going.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56You can suddenly turn up in shorts and sneakers,
0:39:56 > 0:39:59everywhere but here.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03The dress code now is a shirt with a collar
0:40:03 > 0:40:05and a blazer or suit jacket.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08Wow! You don't have to wear a tie now!
0:40:08 > 0:40:11I'm not the best person to support that.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13My grandfather used to say to me,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15and it's probably deeply inappropriate to me
0:40:15 > 0:40:17and he was an army man,
0:40:17 > 0:40:19that one should always wear a tie because you
0:40:19 > 0:40:21never know when your services might be called upon
0:40:21 > 0:40:23by Her Royal Majesty.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30It is true that it is the only nightclub that the Queen has
0:40:30 > 0:40:32ever been to.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36She drank gin martini, no lemon.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40I've served everybody round the world, all the film stars,
0:40:40 > 0:40:44the Royal families from all different countries,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48but to serve Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth,
0:40:48 > 0:40:54I think it was one of the greatest honours I've ever had.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00The 40th was fantastic. Barry Humphries
0:41:00 > 0:41:02wrote a really, really good song.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05It must have taken ages to do it, but he did it brilliantly.
0:41:08 > 0:41:14Of the 125 living founder members,
0:41:14 > 0:41:19I think all those that could walk and stand were there.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21I mean, I think over 90 came.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26You did sit there thinking, "Where have all the years gone?"
0:41:26 > 0:41:29I mean, it all seems like yesterday.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34Mark understood that perhaps he was getting older and wanted
0:41:34 > 0:41:38in some shape or form
0:41:38 > 0:41:41to make Annabel's contemporary and relevant.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44That wasn't some PR job.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48It was, "OK, we've got to listen to what younger people want."
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Mark encouraged India Jane and Robin during
0:41:55 > 0:41:59the transition period to make a number of design changes
0:41:59 > 0:42:00to the club.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04Robin and Jane's impact was significant.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06I think Mark handed over reluctantly.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08I think the biggest transformation was
0:42:08 > 0:42:10the revitalisation of a lot of the fabrics in the place,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13that the building suddenly looked more vibrant.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16India Jane put this extraordinary carpet down, which is
0:42:16 > 0:42:21actually rather marvellous, I think. All that strange, free-flowing... A rather beautiful carpet.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25It did make a huge statement that there was new life.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28There certainly was a vibrant scene out of the membership as well.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30A different crowd, a slightly younger crowd.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33But it was a very useful addition to the club
0:42:33 > 0:42:35and it brought people in and got the club talked about again.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38I knew something was happening when I walked to Annabel's,
0:42:38 > 0:42:41as I have many times, one summer and there were queues done the block.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43There were never queues at Annabel's.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47What had happened is the stars had aligned,
0:42:47 > 0:42:51many more international people - what had been happening in London -
0:42:51 > 0:42:54and Annabel's became the centre again.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58It was common knowledge that Annabel's was
0:42:58 > 0:42:59impossible to get into.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02The trick used to be that you'd find out the name of a member
0:43:02 > 0:43:04and you'd phone under that member's
0:43:04 > 0:43:06name and say to whoever was on the desk,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08"Hi, this is Mr So-And-So," who is a member.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10You'd say, "I'm coming down tonight. I'll be a bit late.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13"I'm going to send two or three friends beforehand,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16"they'll ask for me." And we got away with it once or twice,
0:43:16 > 0:43:18but then the member never turned up.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21And when the member did turn up subsequently,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24we were caught out. Because he said, "No, I didn't phone, I didn't book."
0:43:24 > 0:43:27So the third time it didn't work and we had to try
0:43:27 > 0:43:29and think of a different ruse.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35Well, I saw it looming, the sale of the club,
0:43:35 > 0:43:37so I wasn't surprised.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43Unfortunately, at the time that I met Mark,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46the family was in a difficult situation.
0:43:48 > 0:43:53I could see that the sort of tip of that empire was rocky.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57I think it was inevitable.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00I think that Mark had a confidence in me at the end,
0:44:00 > 0:44:02after many meetings and conversations,
0:44:02 > 0:44:05that his legacy, if you like,
0:44:05 > 0:44:08and the impression that he has created would be carried on
0:44:08 > 0:44:12in the vein of which he intended it to be.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15We were very confident with each other, at the point that
0:44:15 > 0:44:18he believed I would be the gatekeeper for him, if you like.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Also, the money was relevant.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25Richard Caring is a very great friend of mine.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28I became a great friend of his because he rang me up
0:44:28 > 0:44:33after he bought Annabel's to ask me for lunch.
0:44:33 > 0:44:39My knowledge of Annabel's members at the time was "aristocratic".
0:44:39 > 0:44:44And I wondered how they might relate to somebody such as myself,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47who is not, obviously, an aristocrat,
0:44:47 > 0:44:49coming along and taking over what
0:44:49 > 0:44:53they believed was part of their heritage.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57Yes, I mean, you always have people complaining about the fact that new
0:44:57 > 0:45:00management came in and it's not what it used to be and all that.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04I think that Richard Caring, in fairness,
0:45:04 > 0:45:06has done the most fantastic job
0:45:06 > 0:45:10in protecting the, if you like, the tradition, the atmosphere,
0:45:10 > 0:45:13the ambiance of the Birley establishments.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16I think in the very early months, he made a few mistakes.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19And there are still one or two things that he does
0:45:19 > 0:45:22which Mark wouldn't have done, but that's bound to be the case.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26The sensitivity he has towards the staff is very clear.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28They clearly really like him.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30Yes, he's not Mark Birley, but I don't think he's ever said that
0:45:30 > 0:45:33he was Mark Birley or was trying to be Mark Birley.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35He's his own man, he's Richard Caring.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40I was close to where he lives and was having my hair cut,
0:45:40 > 0:45:44and I thought, "I'll potter past and ring the bell."
0:45:44 > 0:45:47I went into the little local newsagent.
0:45:47 > 0:45:52Do you know those chocolates that are done up in a foil thing
0:45:52 > 0:45:56and the ambassador likes them... What are they called?
0:45:56 > 0:45:58Ferrero Rocher.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01So I bought a box of Ferrero Rocher
0:46:01 > 0:46:04in that little plastic container, which looks like they contain
0:46:04 > 0:46:08quails eggs, done up in a brown paper bag, and rang the bell.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10I said, "It's Peter Blond,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13"could I have a word with Mr Birley?"
0:46:13 > 0:46:15There's a long pause, and I said, "I've got a present for him."
0:46:15 > 0:46:17So I was admitted and shown up.
0:46:17 > 0:46:23Mark was dressed and sitting in the corner, having some poire
0:46:23 > 0:46:24and a cup of coffee.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27I said, "I thought I'd say hello to you."
0:46:27 > 0:46:31And he said, "So what's this present?"
0:46:31 > 0:46:34And I produced this brown paper bag
0:46:34 > 0:46:38and he picked it up as if it was something the dog had
0:46:38 > 0:46:41left behind and undid it.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45He had very long, elegant hands and fingers.
0:46:45 > 0:46:46He looked at it and said,
0:46:46 > 0:46:52"Only you would produce these ghastly, common Italian chocolates."
0:46:52 > 0:46:55I said, "You're so spoilt! You're used to Rothschild ribbons,
0:46:55 > 0:46:57"but this is a present."
0:46:57 > 0:46:58He said, "I hate them!"
0:47:01 > 0:47:03That was the last time I saw him.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21- MOHAMMED:- I will never forget him,
0:47:21 > 0:47:23because I loved him.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34Annabel's is Annabel's,
0:47:34 > 0:47:40and, you know, it is hard once an owner disappears.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42To keep that going, it's challenging.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46The Ritz hotels have gone through their challenges
0:47:46 > 0:47:49since Cesar Ritz died, and you have to have an owner
0:47:49 > 0:47:53who is willing to continuously fund and grow,
0:47:53 > 0:47:55and I think they're lucky to.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58I think it's probably why Mark chose Richard Caring.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01He probably said, "This man will keep this going."
0:48:01 > 0:48:04The reason why Annabel's is successful
0:48:04 > 0:48:08and will be successful for a very long time to be,
0:48:08 > 0:48:12is it's not trying to be something that it's not - it's timeless.
0:48:12 > 0:48:17If it starts trying too hard to be modern, then it's not Annabel's.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19I haven't changed Mark Birley's style in Annabel's.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22What we have done is moved it very slowly forward.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25Whenever I go there, it's so jammed you can hardly get in.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40When I wanted a smoking terrace, I was told we couldn't have one.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42It's wonderful, the terrace, for me.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44It just means that everybody nice goes to the terrace.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Some of them, they don't want to come downstairs at all.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51The crowd who goes there has always kind of liked music.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53Lady Gaga was amazing.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56The fact Annabel's managed to secure Lady Gaga
0:48:56 > 0:48:59at the very height of her career was an incredible coup.
0:48:59 > 0:49:04There's no trickery when it's just, you know, a bitch and a piano.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07It's like...it's what it is, so you have to really give it to them.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10At one stage, she even used the heel on her stiletto
0:49:10 > 0:49:12to play one of the tunes.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15And I found one of her nails, which I keep.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20The staff alone, they should make a movie out of,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23because they are incredible characters.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26People are themself. People are true to themself
0:49:26 > 0:49:30and when they pass through these doors, they just feel at home.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33Everybody knows everybody. "Hello, Miss Moss."
0:49:33 > 0:49:35Everybody like it differently
0:49:35 > 0:49:37and we have to make sure we can deliver it to them.
0:49:37 > 0:49:42I think it's an extraordinary melting pot of everybody,
0:49:42 > 0:49:45all walks of life, interesting people,
0:49:45 > 0:49:46and they even let carpenters in.
0:49:48 > 0:49:53BAFTA parties are the highlight of the year for me.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56Charles Finch's BAFTA nights are different because of Charles Finch.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59He somehow makes it Hollywood, makes it work.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02I think when we bring the movie stars, they are surprised
0:50:02 > 0:50:06that you have this beautiful grandeur in a nightclub.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Quite a few people have come up to me and said, "Is this your house?"
0:50:09 > 0:50:11And I always say, "No, sadly not."
0:50:12 > 0:50:15You get dressed up in a nice evening dress and everyone just feels
0:50:15 > 0:50:19that they're doing a really mature, grown-up thing.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22If you were old and posh, you drank claret.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24If you were young and posh, you drank claret,
0:50:24 > 0:50:28and if you're now new and not posh, you drink claret.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30I've had some very great claret moments.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33Everybody drinks claret, bucket-loads of the stuff.
0:50:33 > 0:50:38Everybody arrives being very kind of put together
0:50:38 > 0:50:40and then when they leave, they're a bit staggery.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44Discretion is not just important, it's a job description.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49Men and women together, getting drunk, having a great time -
0:50:49 > 0:50:52there's a bit of decadence about it, yes.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54- Yeah, baby!- Hello, rich people!
0:50:54 > 0:50:56CHEERING
0:50:56 > 0:50:59- We're poor!- I'm poor! - Come on, it's a tradition.
0:50:59 > 0:51:00I always say that when I come here.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03LAUGHTER
0:51:03 > 0:51:05I really love it here at Annabel's.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08I mean, I started out playing in restaurants and bars
0:51:08 > 0:51:13and nightclubs, so being here is a real treat for me
0:51:13 > 0:51:18because I get to do a more intimate type of performance and I get to say
0:51:18 > 0:51:22what I like and do what I like and everybody's just along for the ride.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27London is now kind of going through a great phase,
0:51:27 > 0:51:31it's really at the centre of everything, you know,
0:51:31 > 0:51:33the art scene, music,
0:51:33 > 0:51:37all kinds of cultural great events happening here,
0:51:37 > 0:51:39like the centre of the world.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43And you could say that Annabel's is also, in Berkeley Square,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46it's the centre of that world, you know?
0:51:46 > 0:51:51I love this place more than anything in the world. I promise you.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55It's the same, it's like my family, this place.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57You don't feel that you are just serving someone,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01you really feel like you are a friend looking after them,
0:52:01 > 0:52:04like at home, like when you will welcome a guest to your house.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08The great scenario is when you've got the 75-year-old grandad
0:52:08 > 0:52:12and the 21-year-old grandson,
0:52:12 > 0:52:16and the grandson is telling the grandad to ease up.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21Walking into Berkeley Square, walking down that staircase,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24walking into the club, being seated at that table,
0:52:24 > 0:52:27ordering that cocktail, speaking to Mohammed,
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Mohammed making you look like a rock star to the person that you're with,
0:52:31 > 0:52:34all of that is intoxicatingly romantic.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36You can hear each other speak,
0:52:36 > 0:52:38you can feel that the lights are beautiful.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40The lighting is fantastic, by the way.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44It's not bright, that's what I definitely love about it.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48For any woman who wants to go to a place and feel that the lighting
0:52:48 > 0:52:52is gifting her something, it definitely does at Annabel's!
0:52:52 > 0:52:55I like the little library room that's by the bar,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58because you don't even know it's there and then you turn
0:52:58 > 0:53:00and then you go right round and you see this little area
0:53:00 > 0:53:03where you can sit cosy with your friends before your table is ready.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06I think when something is put together
0:53:06 > 0:53:08with that kind of affection,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11it kind of lasts forever, basically.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Annabel's will be here another 50 years, I'm sure,
0:53:14 > 0:53:17with a different set of members,
0:53:17 > 0:53:22and another period of evolution in the club's history,
0:53:22 > 0:53:24and I won't be here to look after them.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26I'm sure, hopefully, they'll be drinking well.
0:53:26 > 0:53:32And I think it would be a shame if Annabel's lost all its sense
0:53:32 > 0:53:34of...coming home, but at the same time,
0:53:34 > 0:53:36obviously it has to move forward
0:53:36 > 0:53:40and I think they have managed that very successfully.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43They are managing to balance the old with the new.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47I was taken there around my 18th birthday
0:53:47 > 0:53:52as a present by my father and Mark, as a rite of passage.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54My son will be 18 in 17 years' time
0:53:54 > 0:53:58and hopefully I'll be around to take him there myself.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:54:02 > 0:54:07# Can't read my, can't read my
0:54:07 > 0:54:14# No, he can't read my poker face
0:54:14 > 0:54:19# She's got me like nobody
0:54:19 > 0:54:24# Can't read my, can't read my
0:54:24 > 0:54:31# No, he can't read my poker face.
0:54:35 > 0:54:41# I want to hold 'em like they do in Texas, please
0:54:41 > 0:54:43# Fold 'em, let 'em hit me
0:54:43 > 0:54:47# Raise it, baby, stay with me
0:54:48 > 0:54:54# Love game, intuition, play the cards with spades to start
0:54:55 > 0:54:59# And after he's been hooked... #
0:54:59 > 0:55:01LAUGHTER
0:55:01 > 0:55:08# ..I'll play the one that's on his heart
0:55:08 > 0:55:11# Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
0:55:11 > 0:55:13# Oh-oh-oh-oh
0:55:13 > 0:55:19# I'll get him hot, show him what I've got
0:55:20 > 0:55:26# Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
0:55:26 > 0:55:31# I'll get him hot, show him what I've got
0:55:33 > 0:55:36# Can't read my, can't read my
0:55:36 > 0:55:43# No, he can't read my poker face
0:55:43 > 0:55:47# She's got me like nobody
0:55:47 > 0:55:51# Can't read my, can't read my
0:55:51 > 0:55:58# No, he can't read my poker face
0:55:58 > 0:56:02# He's got me like nobody. #
0:56:02 > 0:56:05You know, this song is about
0:56:05 > 0:56:09actually when I was making love to this one guy that I was dating
0:56:09 > 0:56:10a long time ago,
0:56:10 > 0:56:14that I was thinking about chicks every time we had sex.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:56:18 > 0:56:22And I just didn't want him to figure it out because I felt so bad,
0:56:22 > 0:56:26but I don't any more, because I wrote a song about it!
0:56:28 > 0:56:33# Pa-pa-pa-poker face, pa-pa-poker face
0:56:34 > 0:56:40# Pa-pa-pa-poker face, pa-pa-poker face
0:56:42 > 0:56:48# I want to roll with him, a hard pair we will be
0:56:49 > 0:56:54# A little gambling is fun when you're with me
0:56:55 > 0:57:01# Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun
0:57:02 > 0:57:04# And baby, when it's love
0:57:04 > 0:57:11# If it's not rough it isn't fun
0:57:11 > 0:57:13# Oh, oh-oh-oh... #
0:57:13 > 0:57:14- WHISTLING - Thank you.
0:57:14 > 0:57:15# Oh, oh-oh-oh... #
0:57:15 > 0:57:18A dollar for my hat, please!
0:57:18 > 0:57:23# I'll get him hot, show him what I've got
0:57:24 > 0:57:30# Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
0:57:30 > 0:57:36# I'll get him hot, show him what I've got
0:57:38 > 0:57:41# Can't read my, can't read my
0:57:41 > 0:57:46# No, he can't read my poker face
0:57:46 > 0:57:50# He's got me like nobody
0:57:50 > 0:57:54# Can't read my, can't read my
0:57:54 > 0:57:59# No, he can't read my poker face
0:58:02 > 0:58:07# She's got me like nobody
0:58:07 > 0:58:11# Pa-pa-pa-poker face, pa-pa-poker face
0:58:12 > 0:58:19# Pa-pa-pa-poker face, pa-pa-poker face. #
0:58:24 > 0:58:27CHEERING AND APPLAUSE