Big cheeses, mini graters
Princes Wills and Harry were at the opening of the Leadenhall Building, EC3, this week. Diary can’t be sure that they were presented with mini cheesegraters, as other guests were, but we like to think they would have used their gifts to grate Duchy Organic farmhouse cheddar along with their dad later that evening. It would be most unlike Diary to claim credit where it’s not due, so we’ll neither confirm nor deny suggestions that we were responsible for the idea. But perhaps our moaning – at a celebratory dinner a year or so ago where no kitchen utensils were gifted to guests – sparked a rethink.
Stepping up in stature
Tom Cruise, Kylie Minogue… many pint-sized people pack a fair punch. So it was with characteristic confidence that defies his diminutive stature that New West End Company deputy chief executive Jace Tyrell launched his trade body’s property BID from atop a box, in order to match up to the Crown Estate’s David Shaw, alongside whom he was photographed.
Lovies rally around Bore
It seems news of Sir Albert Bore’s surprise resignation as leader of Birmingham city council reached celebrity circles in double quick time. Bore had barely announced his intention to step down before impressionist and after-dinner speaker Rory Bremner opened his speech at the IPF Midlands dinner at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre on Thursday evening by quipping to the 620 guests: “I’m going to have to be quick as I’m attending Sir Albert Bore’s surprise retirement party!” Nice to know Sir Albert can pull in the celebs when it matters most.
A guide to graciousness
Another lift, in his column in AJ, from Ian Martin, who has just won an Emmy for his scriptwriting on US comedy series Veep. This on how it feels to wait for an awards announcement: “It’s exciting. It’s boring. You’re in with a chance. You’re not. You are. Or are you? Look who you’re up against. Still, you never know. The winner is… who? THEY’VE won? [Expletive unprintable in EG] I mean, worthy winner, well done. Wait, the first two bottles were free and then HOW much?” See if his observations are accurate at the EG Awards in December.
I’ll need a room for the Rolexes
Roof terraces that can take a helicopter’s weight, basement squash courts, private car galleries and panic rooms are among the homebuyer requests fielded by Marsh & Parsons recently. Buyers have also been interested in owning their own recording studios and swimming pools. Climate-controlled wine cellars and log burners are also popular. These requests are a housing crisis in a league of their own.
No lead in this plumbing
Much like its sense of humour, Diary’s interests in new developments tend towards the lavatorial. So thanks to Enstar Capital, which this week unveiled the most expensive commercial fit-out a London office has ever seen. After spending something in the region of £500 per sq ft on three floors at 54 Brooks Mews, W1, in the heart of Mayfair, the lucky tenants will enjoy an art deco-style Statuario Michelangelo marble and “gold” staircase; timber flooring imported from a 16th-century monastery in Tuscany and in-office dining provided by celeb restaurant La Petite Maison. At this point, Diary will hand over to the blurb: “The washroom and toilet walls are lined in floor-to-ceiling ‘gold’ mosaic, and the mirrored washbasins, with water, soap dispenser and hand-drying facilities and iconic logos, are designed to echo the ambience of Milan’s five-star Armani hotel.” And if we’re not mistaken, isn’t that a gold bog brush in the photo? The good times, ladies and gents, are back.
Photo op: The other game played in boots
Is it just us, or has it all been a bit rugby of late? How about a picture of a footie legend to level the playing field? Thanks to James Andrew International’s Mark Kleinman for this shot of him and ex-Liverpool and England player Jamie Carragher at the Maccabi London Brady charity lunch.
