Taylor Swift’s music for her single ‘End Game’ begins with the American pop star opening cream curtains to reveal a view of the Eye. As she sings ‘I want to be your end game’ over a slow beat, she stands in a bedroom at The Savoy hotel, gazing at ’s flickering lights. Taylor is one of the latest in a long line of A-listers and Hollywood stars who have walked the halls of The Savoy.
From the late 19th century to today, it has hosted everyone from Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe to Oscar Wilde, Bob Dylan and Winston Churchill. Opened in 1889 by former impresario and builder of the adjacent Savoy theatre, Richard D’Oyly Carte, inspired by the luxurious hospitality of ’s finest hotels, The Savoy was London’s first purpose-built deluxe hotel and the first with unlimited hot water and electric lighting. Built on the sight of the 14th century Savoy Palace, erected by John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, which was burned down by Wat Tyler's followers in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, it sits just off , on the edge of London's .
The hotel was designed by Nouveau designer A.H. Mackmurdo, opened as a highly glamorous gold-plated destination for the smart set, which offered the luxury of alfresco dining with a view of the River Thames.
It wasn’t until the 1920s that the hotel would become synonymous with the Art Deco movement and The Savoy’s steel sign, which runs the width of Savoy Court, was erected. To elevate the hotel’s glamour, Carte enlisted César Ritz, the mastermind behind the Ritz hotel, and Auguste Escoffier, a pioneer of French cooking, as . This collaboration created the perfect allure to attract British high society, including, famously, the Royal Family.
It was at The Savoy that a young Queen Elizabeth II, then a princess, was photographed with Prince Philip of Greece, marking the first glimpse of their engagement. Decades later, in 1989 wore a Catherine Walker gown for the Savoy Centenary Ball, and Queen Margaret was a regular diner in the 1990s. In 1996, ’s son, Viscount Linley and father of former cover star , designed and created furniture for one restoration of the Front Hall.
And in 2010, reopened the hotel after its refurbishment. It was the Savoy that introduced the concept of ‘the dinner-dance.’ In 1912, a couple sprung from their table to dance to the nearby band, inspiring the hotel to lay a dance-floor in the centre of the Thames Foyer.
Naturally, with such a social clientele, the destination rightly quipped the attention of . In the May 1914 issue, we celebrated our Adelphi neighbours, with a drawing of a sprightly woman on the cover in a green dress descending its steps as she leaves the annual Savoy Midnight Ball, taking place 25 June 1914; the caption reads ‘Spring at the Savoy’. Inside, the issue featured , a weekly correspondence from the (fictional) Hon.
Evelyn Fitzhenry to her friend Lady Betty , in which she discussed other society functions (‘Mrs. Leggett's at Lady Ripon's old in Bruton Street was another American dance that went off well,’); of the moment (‘frocks – what there were of them – seemed mostly of tulle or some such flimsy folly, heels are mountainous, hair is worn on top, sleeves don’t exist,’); and society gossip (‘With his democratic smile the King of Denmark seems to have won all hearts, but he looks nicer when he sits down, for he belongs to the too-tall people,’). Coverage of the Savoy Midnight Ball (held in honour of The National Institute for the Blind) appeared in every society on the stands, rife with the party’s gossip.
noted that ‘practically all the notable people in society were present’, while called it ‘ event of ’ and wrote with seeming disbelief that ‘the whole of the ground floor was thronged from midnight until 5 o’clock’. Pictures of guests in their costumes adorned a double page, featuring Lord Lonsdale in ruffled sleeves and collar and Miss Ethel Levey as ‘Goodness knows what’ in feathers and lace..
. Does anything really change?.
