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|Claridge’s has long been an address of momentous celebrations and legendary encounters. With the unveiling of The Heritage Collection, four of the hotel’s most storied suites are brought together in tribute to that enduring glamour - inviting guests to walk in the footsteps of kings, artists, and screen legends, and discover an extraordinary setting in which to craft memories of their own.
Ascend the Grand Staircase like generations of royalty and Hollywood stars before. In 1951, a relatively unknown Audrey Hepburn arrived at Claridge’s to meet director William Wyler wearing what she later remembered as her 'one proper dress'. The impression she made ultimately helped secure her the role of Princess Ann in Roman Holiday and launched her towards international stardom.
Decades later, Claridge’s became the base for Kate Moss’s legendary 30th birthday party – a dazzling dream complete with cocktails, Cristal and a vintage sequin party dress that would become a icon of its era.
In January 1923, the future King George VI invited Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – later known as the Queen Mother - to dinner at Claridge’s, followed by a West End revue and a return to Brook Street for dancing. Two days before their wedding that April, the couple returned to Claridge’s to dine privately with friends.
Years later, another royal romance began within these walls when King Michael I of Romania met Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma during the celebrations surrounding Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten’s wedding in 1947.
With so many crowned heads in residence at Claridge’s that week, when a diplomat telephoned asking to speak to “the King”, the switchboard operator is said to have replied: “Certainly, Sir. But which one?”
In the spring of 1901, Claridge’s began serving afternoon tea between the hours of four and six, offering fashionable shoppers a place to pause between visits to Bond Street and Regent Street. Pâtisserie and confectionery were served as an Italian orchestra played nearby. It proved so popular that what began as a fashionable respite soon became synonymous with Claridge’s. More than 125 years later, Afternoon Tea remains one of the hotel's most enduring daily rituals.
Marlene Dietrich made it her temporary London home while filming Knight Without Armour in 1936, developing a taste for Earl Grey, wafer-thin watercress sandwiches and Robert Browning along the way. And, after losing the 1945 General Election, Winston and Clementine Churchill retreated to a Claridge’s penthouse. Claridge’s was familiar, private and removed from Westminster – somewhere they could regroup at a defining moment in their lives. Claridge’s, a longstanding respite and retreat for famous figures, welcomes you inside.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis became regular guest here after her second marriage; Gordon Ramsay helped usher Claridge’s restaurant into a new culinary era; and the hotel appears on the pages of Agatha Christie's fabled mysteries. Royal romances, reunions, celebrations of centuries have unfolded throughout its rooms for generations, with the hotel shaped by those who have passed through its doors. Now, let it become part of your next chapter.
Discover The Heritage Collection at Claridge's.