LETTER FROM LONDON
Mini-revolution in the cozy world of London private clubs, purely British institutions, symbols of class and discretion: the Garrick, one of the last “men only” (an exclusively male establishment) in the British capital, decided on April 5 to submit to its 1,500 members the possibility of finally admitting, almost two hundred years after its creation, members of the fairer sex. The pressure had become too intense for the club, based in a massive neoclassical building near Covent Garden, after an article in Guardianin March, lifted the veil on the identity of some of its members, confirming its status as one of the most powerful informal circles in the country.
Among the personalities enjoying (for an annual subscription) unlimited access to its paneled lounges, its opulent dining room or its superb library (with an enormous collection of dramatic pieces), we find Simon Case, the secretary of Downing Street cabinet, Sir Richard Moore, head of MI6 (the foreign intelligence services), around ten deputies, including Minister of State Michael Gove, journalists, a judge at the Supreme Court, five judges in the Court of appeal, eight judges at the High Court, dozens of members of the House of Lords, actors Brian Cox, Stephen Fry and Benedict Cumberbatch and even King Charles III…
The article reignited a controversy started a few years ago by Emily Bendell, a lingerie entrepreneur, who was one of the first women to want to get a foot in the door of Garrick in the name of gender equality. Her request to become a member having been sharply rejected, the entrepreneur has multiplied petitions and legal actions to force the institution to bend, so far in vain. Elected officials and senior officials should not belong to such circles, “gender equality being a recognized public policy objective”, estimated after the publication of the article Guardian Harriet Harman MP, former Labor minister, who was responsible for drafting the Equality Act of 2010.
Long and opaque admissions processes
The first London clubs appeared at the end of the 17th centurye century and quickly established themselves as essential places of socialization for the British elites: aristocrats, politicians and artists came to seek reassuring fellowship, outside the Westminster Parliament or their family homes. Concentrated between Mayfair, east of Hyde Park, and West End, the famous theater district, they all cultivate a specificity, but with one thing in common: their exclusive character. You are only admitted by co-optation, according to opaque processes, and waiting lists are sometimes several years long.
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