EXCLUSIVE EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: The iconic Lord's Taverners which had Prince Philip as their patron AXES its Christmas lunch due to soaring costs By Richard Eden for the Daily Mail Published: 23:10, 2 October 2024 | Updated: 23:10, 2 October 2024 e-mail View comments With Prince Philip as its patron and Margaret Thatcher among the guests, The Lord’s Taverners Christmas lunch has become a London institution. However, I hear that the cricket charity has axed this year’s event after 73 years, to the dismay of supporters. It says the lunch, traditionally held at the Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair, has become too expensive to stage.
The charity’s president, former cricket star David Gower, partly blames the Covid pandemic. ‘The Lord’s Taverners lunch up until Covid had become hugely popular and successful,’ he tells me. ‘We had huge numbers.
Covid, of course, knocked that back.’ Prince Philip was a devoted supporter of the organisation, which helps disabled and disadvantaged people through sport. With Prince Philip as its patron and Margaret Thatcher among the guests, The Lord’s Taverners Christmas lunch has become a London institution Former cricket star David Gower, partly blames the Covid pandemic for the event axing ‘It’s a terrible shame,’ a supporter tells me.
‘It was one of the highlights of the season.’ The event was moved in 2021 to the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, a more accessible venue, with tickets costing £180 each. A spokesman for The L.
