Overview
Annabel's is a private members' club at 46 Berkeley Square in Mayfair, London. It was opened at 44 Berkeley Square in 1963 by Mark Birley and named for his wife Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart. It was founded in the basement of the Clermont Club, a private gambling club established by John Aspinall. Annabel's was one of the first nightclubs in London and was especially popular with the British aristocracy and the international jet-set in the 1960s and 1970s. It was revived by Birley's son and daughter in the 2000s and was sold by Birley with his other members' clubs to Richard Caring in 2007. Annabel's closed at No. 44 Berkeley Square in 2018 and was reopened later that year at No. 46, occupying the entirety of the Georgian townhouse.
1963–2007: The Birley Years at 44 Berkeley Square
. The basement was the location of Annabel's from 1963 to 2018.
Establishment and opening
In 1962 the Clermont Club, a private gambling club catering to London's high society, was established at 44 Berkeley Square, a townhouse in the Mayfair district of London, in 1962 by John Aspinall. The house was built between 1742 and 1744 by William Kent for Lady Isabella Finch. The Clermont Club was one of the first private gambling clubs in London following the passing of the Betting and Gaming Act 1960. Aspinall suggested to his friend Mark Birley that he start a piano bar in the extensive vaults and basement of No. 44. Birley himself had intended to start a club after being inspired by the piano bar of the Carlyle Hotel in New York. 6,000 tonnes of London Clay were removed from the basement and garden at the rear of the house to create the principal rooms of the club. The dance floor of the club was the floor from the old kitchen of No. 44.
Birley blocked off the staircase due to his disapproval of Arab gamblers coming down into Annabel's from the Clermont Club in various states of "dress and disorder which jarred with the tone of the nighclub" as recalled by Jonathan Aitken. Lady Annabel herself said that she was not fond of having the club named after her when it first opened but subsequently looks back " ... on Birley's decision with pride and consider it the most tremendous compliment he could ever have paid me. Having a nightclub named after you is much better than being immortalised as a rose, which, unlike Annabel's, does not necessarily survive very long". Unaccompanied journalists were not allowed in Annabel's except for the gossip columnist Nigel Dempster.
Design and decor
The entrance to the club was through a canopied staircase leading down from Berkeley Square. The canopy was decorated in blue and gold stripes. Plum Sykes described how "Birley's collection of horse and dog paintings and prints covered the walls top to toe; flickering candle lamps lit the tables while guests ate dinner seated on banquettes upholstered in red velvet; the cramped dance floor, almost an afterthought, was hidden at the back of the club and boasted only a couple of disco lights ... Guests felt more like they were at a party in someone's fabulous drawing room than in a London nightclub". Campbell subsequently lined them with a Chinese red silk and put examples of blue and red Imari porcelain on display. Birley was impressed and Campbell began collaborating with him on the decor of the club.
The main sitting area of the club was down the corridor from the lobby with banquettes and sofas. A bar and the room known as the Buddha Room were subsequently created after the entry corridor became too crowded. The Buddha Room was dominated by a wooden Indian sculpture of the Buddha, bought by Birley from Barling of Mount Street. It was painted with a red lacquer and decorated with watercolours and paintings of the Ballets Russes by Pavel Tchelitchew. A private dining room was to the right, established in 1970 from the former mews building of No. 44. The walls of the private dining room were filled from floor to ceiling with wine bottles. The main dining room of the club lay beyond the entrance hallway with the dance floor at its back.
The dining room was distinguished by its vaulted ceiling and numerous tables with red and green velvet chairs, each table set with lamps and Limoges china with a flower-pattern. The dining room had a large bar to one side. The supporting pillars of the basement were covered with an antique brass which caused atmospheric reflections contributing to the intimate ambience of the club. Each room had a log fire. Lady Annabel wrote that Annabel's felt more like a set of "luxurious private sitting rooms than a club". It was decorated with numerous and valuable oil paintings, drawings and photographs with many vases of flowers. The artworks were by many notable artists including Léon Bakst, H. M. Bateman, Edwin Landseer and Alfred Munnings. Some of the artworks in the club had been inherited by Birley from his father, the society portrait artist Oswald Birley.
A painting by John Ward of founder members of the club was commissioned to mark the 20th anniversary Annabel's and hung in the dining room of the club.
Later years
Following the success of Annabel's, Birley opened the private members' clubs Mark's Club in 1972, Harry's Bar, in 1979, the Bath & Racquets Club in 1989, and George in 2001. Sarah Ferguson and Diana, Princess of Wales went to Annabel's disguised as police officers a few days before Ferguson's wedding to Prince Andrew in July 1986. Annabel's marked its 40th anniversary in 2003 with two dinners attended by 125 founder members among 320 guests hosted by Mark Birley and Lady Annabel Goldsmith. Barry Humphries wrote and performed a special song about Annabel's on both nights in character as Dame Edna Everage. It was the first time that the Queen had been in a nightclub since she was married.
In 2004 India Jane became pregnant and Robin paid former London police officers who claimed to be private detectives more than £400,000 from the accounts of Annabel's in exchange for false information about her then partner, and the father of her child, Robert Macdonald. The investigation was to establish whether Macdonald had a financial motive behind his relationship with India Jane. Mark Birley fell out with Robin following the revelation. India Jane Birley solely managed the club in 2006 after her estrangement from her brother, and left the management of her father's clubs after their 2007 sale.
Music and entertainment
Annabel's was one of the first nightclubs in London to replace their live band with a discothèque. Birley would go to New York City to get the latest records from Sam Goody. Many notable entertainers subsequently performed live at Annabel's including Ray Charles, Bryan Ferry, Ella Fitzgerald, Lady Gaga, Diana Ross, The Supremes, and Tina Turner. Annabel's DJ for more than 20 years was Cass the Gas. Other notable entertainments at the club included fashion shows from the Italian designer Valentino, a Brazilian Carnival with topless dancers and samba musicians and a fortnight of Dixieland jazz with food from the New Orleans restaurant Antoine's and music from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Notable staff
Birley was known for his loyalty to staff and many of the employees of Annabel's worked for him for decades. The Maître d' of Annabel's for many years was Louis Emanuelli, who had been hired from the restaurant Mirabelle. The singer Shirley Bassey was banned for several years from Annabel's after assaulting Emanuelli. Mabel was particularly keen that all women would wash their hands after visiting the toilet, and would stand next to the basin with a towel and fill it with warm water. She would then update Lady Annabel with her weekly list of women who had and hadn't washed their hands.
Minimum wage law breach
Annabel's was the subject of a notable legal case, Annabel's (Berkeley Square) Ltd v Revenue and Customs Comrs, which ruled that the business had not paid its staff the minimum wage and had attempted to use tips to hide this.
Membership
The club was founded in 1963 with 500 members, who paid 5 guineas a year for life membership of the club. 69 founder members were alive at the time of the club's 2018 move to 46 Berkeley Square. Guests were banned from buying drinks at the club. Since its relocation in 2018, membership of Annabel's has been equally allocated to men and women. In 2022, prospective members were invited to apply online with a letter of recommendation from a member. The annual subscription is £3,250 with a joining fee of £1,750.
Dress code
The male dress code at Annabel's under Birley was for a dark suit and tie. Blasberg's rules prohibit "cheap, ill-fitting suits. Denim that is holey or deemed distressed. Shoes that women can't walk in. Hats at night. Sunglasses at night, even if they're prescription. Nipples on women. Nipples on men, especially. Dirty fingernails. Cargo pockets. Spikey hair. Men in shorts. Women in shorts. Exposed bra straps. Visible panty lines. 'Sports bras'". Blasberg is particularly exercised about couples who wear matching clothes as it is "annoying and gimmicky" but intends his list to "encourage individuality and fabulous party dressing, and step back from being binding or overly prescriptive". Jeans and trainers are prohibited after 7pm and jackets must be worn by men everywhere except the dance floor.
2007 sale to Richard Caring
Mark Birley sold Annabel's and his other private members' clubs Mark's Club, Harry's Bar, the Bath & Racquets Club and George to the entrepreneur Richard Caring for £95 million shortly before his death in 2007 after a year of negotiations. Birley wrote a letter to India Jane explaining his reasoning behind his will. The letter said that he had sold his clubs to protect them from his son, Robin. Annabel's was the subject of the 2014 documentary film A String of Naked Lightbulbs, directed by Greg Fay and produced by Ridley Scott. An auction of the contents of Annabel's at Christie's in November 2018 realised more than £4 million.
2018 to present: 46 Berkeley Square
Annabel's closed at No. 44 in February 2018 and reopened in late 2018 at 46 Berkeley Square, two doors down from No. 44. The new Annabel's is set in over 26,000 square feet, occupying the entirety of the 18th-century townhouse of No. 46.
Design and decor
The interiors of Annabel's at No. 46 were created by Martin Brudnizki's design studio. Brudnizki was inspired by Caring's "quintessentially British" love of dogs and gardens and modelled the interior design around "animals and gardens, flora and fauna". The entrance hall is notably more minimalist in its design in comparison with the other rooms of the club. Brudnizki has likened the aesthetic effect of it to a palate cleanser. In the entrance hall of the club hangs the 1937 painting Girl with a Red Beret and Pompom by Pablo Picasso of his lover Marie-Thérèse Walter. The painting was renamed 'Annabel' by the club's staff. A unicorn suspended from a hot air balloon hangs in the centre of the staircase.
Nightclub
The nightclub of Annabel's is located in the basement of No. 46. The nightclub comprises the Jungle Bar and the Legacy Bar, a main Nightclub space and male and female bathrooms. It has a floor of green agate with walls of antique mirrors. It is decorated with paintings by Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani, and Pablo Picasso.
The Garden Room
The Garden Room at Annabel's is a restaurant with a gilded ceiling with roses painted by Gary Myatt with walls of mirrored panels. Myatt's designs were inspired by the gardens at Levens Hall in Lancashire. The tulip chandeliers are made by the Sogni di Cristallo in Murano, Venice. An outside terrace courtyard garden with fig and orange trees that seats 120 is accessed from the Garden Room. It has a retractable roof manufactured by Waagner-Biro.
Bathrooms: The Powder Room and The Loos on the Mews
The Powder Room, one of the women's bathrooms at Annabel's, is situated on the top floor. It has a ceiling of silk pink roses. It features oyster shell shaped washbasins carved from marble with gold taps shaped like swans. One member reportedly asked if they could host a dinner in the room causing Plum Sykes to write that "There's nothing more glamorous than supper in the loo ... if the loo looks like this one". Annabel Sampson wrote in Tatler that if the Powder Room was a cake " ... it would be a splendid, seven-tiered red velvet gateau with rippled icing like classical drapery". The men's bathroom features a crocodile shaped washbasin made from a piece of green onyx weighing 500 kg. Brudnizki said of the Loos on the Mews that the "jungle and animal motifs add to the playful spirit of the place ... offering members a similar sense of escapism to the rest of the Club".