The temperature may be rising but there’s a chill descending at Vogue supremo Dame Anna Wintour‘s London HQ.
Having left Vogue House, its elegant Mayfair building for the past 66 years, the fashion bible has moved to an office block off The Strand, a grimy thoroughfare these days.
And the editors of other Conde Nast magazine titles with which Dame Anna, 74, shares the building are said to have been left seething at the office plan.
‘There are only two offices with lovely river views of the Thames,’ says my woman at the glossy empire.
‘And they have been bagged by Dame Anna, who’s known as “The Empress”, and Tatler editor Richard Dennen, who we call “The Dauphin”. The building is seething with envy.’
And there was me thinking The Devil Wears Prada was a work of fiction!
Vogue supremo Dame Anna Wintour at the Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion event in New York on May 6
Tatler editor Richard Dennen is allegedly known as ‘The Dauphin’ in Vogue’s new office building
Having left Vogue House (pictured), its elegant Mayfair building for the past 66 years, the fashion bible has moved to an office block off The Strand, a grimy thoroughfare these days
Daisy Dunn’s a dazzling deity for book launch
Beguiling classicist Daisy Dunn made sure she stood out at the London launch party for her latest book — by dressing as a Greek goddess.
Described as ‘the next Mary Beard’, Daisy has called her book The Missing Thread. It argues the classical world should be reassessed through its influential women.
‘I’ve often wondered what these women would have made of me writing this book,’ she says.
‘I like to think they’d be thrilled. You could bet that if Sappho was here she’d be eyeing my classical white drapery. She once fell out with a woman and branded her new lover a ‘country bumpkin’ in raggedy clothes. I’m doing my best tonight.’
Beguiling classicist Daisy Dunn made sure she stood out at the London launch party for her latest book — by dressing as a Greek goddess
Given £56 million by ex-King Juan Carlos of Spain, with whom she enjoyed a five-year affair, vivacious Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn might appear to have everything her own way. But that’s not so.
I can disclose that she’s just trimmed £4.5 million from the £15 million asking price for the idyllic Regency pile in Shropshire she put on the market last year.
With 11 bedrooms, ten bathrooms, swimming pool, tennis court, five cottages and more than 200 acres, it’s not hard to see why Corinna snapped it up in 2015.
But two years later, at night, a piece of glass the size of a plate was cut from her bedroom window. Then, while in Switzerland, she found a book about the death of Princess Diana on her coffee table.
Both, she alleged, were part of a campaign of harassment by Spain’s intelligence services, prompting her to launch a High Court claim for £126 million damages against the Spanish state.
But the court ruled last year that the case was outside its jurisdiction.
Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn pictured in London on June 2017
Corinna had a five year affair with Spain’s former King Juan Carlos (pictured in 2019)
Victoria’s Secret star’s safety tips
She was just 15 when she appeared on the cover of American Vogue, propelling her towards supermodel status before she was out of her teens. Now 40 and a mother of three, Karolina Kurkova urges parents to keep a protective eye on daughters who want to follow in her catwalk footsteps.
‘It’s important to ask questions: ‘Where’s my daughter going to be? Who’s taking care of her? What’s the phone number, if I cannot reach her?’ Or: ‘Who’s going to be with her?’ she tells me at the amfAR Gala Cannes at Hotel du Cap, Eden Roc.
‘I am protective of the young girls in the industry,’ adds Kurkova, who was modelling for lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret at 16.
The Czech, who now lives in Miami, has previously disclosed her secret to avoiding burn-out — keeping a 13th-century Buddha in her apartment and using essential oils.
Both, she says, give her ‘a feeling of peace and well-being’.
Karolina Kurkova at the amfAR Gala Cannes at Hotel du Cap, Eden Roc, on May 23, 2024
Now 40 and a mother of three, Karolina Kurkova urges parents to keep a protective eye on daughters who want to follow in her catwalk footsteps
As Supt Ted Hastings in Line Of Duty, he was known for memorable phrases such as ‘Now we’re sucking diesel’. Off camera, actor Adrian Dunbar was left tongue-tied in the arts world because of his ‘working-class’ background.
‘The middle classes have a better sense of how to navigate the industry and what you should and shouldn’t say,’ explains the carpenter’s son from Northern Ireland.
‘I didn’t have a lot of critical nous, I had to develop all that for myself… I made many mistakes.
‘When you’re from a working-class background, you don’t always appreciate how underprepared you are.’
Off camera, actor Adrian Dunbar was left tongue-tied in the arts world because of his ‘working-class’ background
As Supt Ted Hastings in Line Of Duty, he was known for memorable phrases such as ‘Now we’re sucking diesel’
Quote of the Week
‘I don’t like flowers’. TV presenter Nick Grimshaw is a surprising guest at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, where he explains: ‘I like ferns or a bush.’
TV presenter Nick Grimshaw at the Chelsea Flower Show on May 20, 2024
Lord Ivar Mountbatten put Bridwell Park, his Grade I Georgian house in Devon, on the market for £5.5 million last month – with one highly unusual catch: he and his husband, James Coyle, a Glaswegian air cabin services director, intended to remain at the property, come what may.
Happily, that detail doesn’t seem to have scared off potential purchasers.
‘We have found a buyer,’ he tells me at the DKMS London Gala at the Natural History Museum. ‘It’s with the solicitors.’
The TV personality, 61, who hit the headlines when he became the first member of the Royal Family to enter a same-sex marriage, declines to give more details.
Lord Ivar Mountbatten (left) put Bridwell Park, his Grade I Georgian house in Devon (pictured), on the market for £5.5 million last month
Lord Mountbatten and his husband, James Coyle, a Glaswegian air cabin services director, intend to remain at the property, come what may. Pictured: The couple outside the property in 2021
Here’s a baby who should grow up to have musical ability: Nicola Benedetti has given birth to her first child.
The Ayrshire-born violin virtuoso, 36, declines to give any details, but before the birth she is understood to have quietly married U.S. trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who is 26 years her senior.
In March, the Grammy Award winner said she was feeling ‘positive’ and ‘excited’ about the pregnancy.
Jazz star Marsalis has three adult sons from two previous relationships and also a teenage daughter.
‘We’ve known each other a long time,’ she has said. ‘Wynton first heard me play when I was 17. I’d been a fan of Wynton’s music since I was a teenager.’
Nicola Benedetti (pictured in March 2024) has given birth to her first child
In March, the Grammy Award winner said she was feeling ‘positive’ and ‘excited’ about the pregnancy
Before the birth she is understood to have quietly married U.S. trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (pictured with Charlie Puth in 2022), who is 26 years her senior