#Lobby signs Middleton

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[erijonarexhepis-blog]

YOUR FUNERAL

SEASON FIVE, EPISODE ONE

Masterlist

"And I thought Christopher’s diaper smelled bad," Laurel says. They're starting their third year at Middleton, and they're back in the classroom. There are a few chairs, so most students are standing like they are.

"She'll weed out the duds," Michaela tells her.

"Unless we're the duds," April says. Laurel gives her a glance, which Michaela notices.

"Okay, what's up with you two?" She asks, annoyed.

April and Laurel look over at Michaela. "What?" They ask simultaneously.

"You've been acting weird," Michaela says. "Both of you."

"I've noticed too," Connor states.

"Did something happen?" Asher asks.

"Nothing happened," April tells him.

Annalise walks into the classroom. She looks at the students for a brief moment. "And to think they wouldn't even let me step foot on this campus a few months ago."

A few students chuckle at her comment. Annalise places her bag on the table, pulling out a small timer, which she puts on the desk. "Despite what you think, this is not an Advanced Trial Skills class. In fact, this is not a class at all. This is a sacrifice. From this point on, you will have no time for friends or family. Instead, you'll wake up hating yourself for choosing this life. But you'll get up anyway, killing yourself to win cases, only to lose and watch innocent people go to jail, and then you'll drink to make yourself feel better. Or take pills. Or fantasize about going to sleep... forever."

"That's the life you're choosing. Brutal, mean, depressing, ruthless. But that's what it costs to change the world. So, who wants in?" She smiles. And the students raise their hands.

"Mr. Chase, stand up," Annalise says. She is leaning against her desk. "What are you passionate about?"

"Oh," he seems surprised by the question, "uh, I've been pretty obsessed with Prince lately, but the early years—"

"I mean your legal passion," Annalise interrupts him. "That one issue you would take to the Supreme Court."

"Uh..."

"Get out," Annalise orders. "We have 24 seats to fill. Let's start culling the herd."

"But I signed up for this class."

"I don't care if you follow the rules. I care if you can kick ass in the courtroom. Are you quick on your feet? Can you move mountains with your words? That's not you. And don't tell me that there are any 1 or 2Ls in this class. I applaud your nerve, but you will not survive. Try again next year."

Several students grab their bags and start leaving. "Everyone else, you have 30 seconds to convince me that you care about something other than yourselves. Who wants to start?"

"Schools are the basis for a quality education, but there is no constitutional law that requires children to receive this education," Laurel says.

"The Equal Protection Clause forces business owner to provide services that contradict their religious beliefs."

It's Connor's turn. "Poverty is at the root of all human suffering. I would force the Treasury Department to provide a universal basic income for all citizens of this country."

"We need to appeal every loitering and trespass conviction in the country," Michaela states.

"We need to bring a Title 7 workplace discrimination case before the Supreme Court and redefine gender."

"These minor violations serve as a pretext to lock up thousands of black men for doing nothing more than standing on a sidewalk."

"We can no longer ignore the need for gun safety just because the gun lobby has bastardized the second amendment," April states.

Asher then speaks up. "We need to tear down and overhaul immigration by filing a civil rights complaint on behalf of every undocumented person."

"Congress's failure to adequately tax the wealth is an attack on the poor."

"This especially applies to the LGBTQ people who will be persecuted or even killed if they're sent back to their country of birth." Asher looks over at Michaela.

"But the law is on our side."

"The D.C. v Heller—"

"1983, the Civil Rights Act—"

"Standard of living—"

"As such, hampering children who cannot intelligently participate in a democratic society," Laurel finishes. The timer goes off.

"Go stand to the left," Annalise tells her. Laurel is a little confused but does as she is told.

Annalise splits them into two groups— left and right. "I'd file a suit against Mississippi arguing that every prison in the state is de facto cruel and unusual," one of the new students says.

"A suit on behalf of prisoners sounds like you're cribbing from my class action."

"No, I— I'm arguing you didn't go far enough. I'd lose my Mississippi case, but that's the point. The 5th Circuit will say that prisoners deserve only to be kept alive. As the appeals go on, my lead plaintiff will die— sad, yes. But the publicity will make SCOTUS take the case, and the 5th Circuit will have to eat their words. I'd sue other states until every prison in the country is under investigation, and we're forced to abolish our prison system on a national scale."

"Left," Annalise says— and that's where he goes.

"Congratulations, right side," Annalise says as she walks up to them. "None of you have to suffer my humiliations this semester. You're cut."

The student group makes their way out, as Annalise goes to the left group. "Everyone else from Round 2, tomorrow, you have to argue the opposing side of your passion. You exposed your bleeding heart. Now cut it out of your chest."

"Oh, my god!" Laurel exclaims when she sees Christopher— Frank brought him. "Christopher!"

"He was bugging me to see his ma," Frank says, handing Christopher over to Laurel.

"Oh, you want to go to law school now, too?" Michaela asks in her baby voice.

"Hey, did you take a job yet?" Connor asks Annalise, who was about to leave.

"Yeah, Bonnie said you were interviewing at a bunch of firms," April adds. Christopher is holding her pointy finger in his tiny hand. Laurel doesn't like her much at the moment, but she does let April see her son because he likes her.

"We are not doing this anymore," Annalise says.

"Having a conversation?" Connor asks.

"Making other students think that I'm playing favorites. Boundaries. That's the word for the year."

"Sounds good to me," Michaela retorts.

"Annalise," Frank says as he goes to follow her.

"Don't worry," April tells Christopher, smiling at the baby. "She's not always that cranky." They make their way down the stairs and leave.

///

"Universal basic income is an illegal redistribution of wealth prohibited by the Takings Clause in the fifth amendment." The students are at the house studying.

Franks walks in with chips and dip. "I'm bored already." He puts the snacks on the table— in front of April. "No wonder you failed out."

"And then busted my ass all summer to get back in."

"No, you got back in 'cause Annalise called in a favor."

"Did she tell you that?"

"I've already said too much."

Cristopher starts crying, causing Laurel to let out an annoyed sigh. "I just changed him." She gets up again.

"Nah, that's his I want my binky cry," Frank tells Laurel. "I got it." Frank goes to Christopher.

Laurel sits back down. "I hate your manny," Connor tells her.

"My son loves him."

"And you? Do you love him?" Asher asks before sipping his tea.

"No."

"But you're having sex again, right? 'Cause otherwise, why is he so happy to be changing diapers?"

"Because he loves Christopher."

"And the sex," Michaela adds.

"Michaela!" Laurel scolds her.

"Was that a secret?"

"Yes!"

"Everyone already knew that," April says. "It wasn't a secret. He likes to care of your baby because he likes you," she tells Laurel.

Michaela notices Laurel's annoyed look immediately. "Really? You're still doing that?"

"Yeah, seriously, you guys, what's going on?" Asher asks.

"Nothing is going on," April tells them, while Laurel just shrugs her shoulders. "Can you let this go?"

"She is practically stabbing you in her mind," Michaela tells April. "What are you guys hiding?"

"None of your business," Laurel replies.

Michaela scoffs. "Really?"

"Now I'm interested too," Connor says, taking a seat.

"Okay. What are you going to say to Marcus?"

Michaela is taken aback by the question. She turns to look at Laurel. "I didn't say anything," Laurel says.

"She didn't have to," April adds. "You ruined our relationship over this guy, so the least you can do is text him."

Michaela sighs, trying to figure out how they got here. "I don't know what to say."

"You'll figure it out." April grabs her notebook and continues to study.

///

"Ciao, bellas!" Oliver walks in, holding food. "Your delivery has arrived."

"Thank god. I'm starving," April says as they make their way over.

"I'll Venmo you later," Asher tells Oliver.

"Actually, I kind of need the money now."

April hugs Oliver before grabbing a slice of pizza. "Uh, I already paid you. Where's my salad?" Michaela asks.

"It got deported," Oliver says— Connor kissing him on the cheek. The guys grab some pizza for themselves.

"Oliver, where'd this come from?" Laurel asks, holding a white box. "There's no return address."

"It was at the front door when I walked in."

"Are you sure you should open it?" April asks.

"It's fine." Laurel uses her keys to open the box. She pulls out a small, white dress.

"What is it?" Asher asks.

"It's a baptism gown," Michaela says.

"My baptism gown," Laurel adds. "My mother was saving it for when I had my own baby."

"So that's from her?" Connor asks.

"Of course."

"Not your brother, the maid who raised you?"

"It's from her."

"Well, that means you didn't kill her, then, so I guess... great news all around." April gives Asher a pointed look for making that comment.

///

"Privacy rights are the foundation of our country, and one of the most private choices we can make is the way we educate our children," Laurel says— the next day in class. "As stated in Wisconsin v. Yoder."

"What if a parent wants to give their kids no education?" Annalise asks.

"The parent has the right to choose, as states in the constitu—"

"The constitution doesn't say anything about parents' rights," Annalise interrupts her.

"Let me finish—"

"You think the Justices let me finish my sentence?"

"Loitering statutes actually benefit minority communities by preventing behaviors proven to lead to violent crimes," Michaela says.

"You're talking pretextual stops?"

"Precisely, which were found legal by the unanimous 1996 SCOTUS decision in Wren v. U.S."

"The second amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms, and for a good reason," April says.

"Due process is a right reserved for American citizens, not illegal aliens," Asher states.

"You mean undocumented immigrants."

"No, they're illegal, pursuant to Section 1325 of the U.S. Code Title 8."

"It's wrong to assume freedom of religion is absolute, especially when it impedes the public trade in goods and services."

"Once the government begins regulating what every child learns, what stops them from deciding what books they read?"

"Because you're underprivileged doesn't mean you don't know the difference between right and wrong."

"In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court affirmed for the first time that the right belongs to individuals for self-defense in the home. So, it's my legal right to protect myself if someone breaks into my home and/or threatens my life in any way."

Annalise looks at April for a moment, then nods. "Alright. Who's next?" April takes her seat as Annalise grabs her phone.

"I'll go," Connor says. He and Gabriel stood up.

"All right, let's call it a day," Annalise says as she gets off her chair. "Mr. Walsh, you're first up tomorrow." She grabs her bag and leaves.

///

When April gets to her place, she sees Trevor standing at the door. "What are you doing here?" She asks as she walks up to him.

"Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"My dad left."

April still doesn't understand why he's there. "And that's my problem, how?"

Trevor sighs. "I don't know what to do. I'm alone."

"You're an adult. Figure it out."

Trevor stops her from entering. "You're the only family I have."

"No, we're not family. We're related. There's a difference." Trevor looks a little hurt by her words.

"I'm alone."

"We're all alone!" April shrugs her shoulders. "You need to figure yourself out. And trust me when I tell you that I'm doing you a favor because you need better people in your life. Not me, not your dad. You can do better."

"I've never been on my own."

April looks at him for a moment. "You're still living in your father's house. Get a job if you don't have one. Make friends. I don't care. I really don't. Now leave."

Trevor steps aside, letting her by. He doesn't respond. April unlocks the door and goes inside, closing it.

///

They’re in class the next day, and Connor and Gabriel are the only two left. "Handing out cash to the poor is a violation of Article 1 of the Constitution. The founding fathers purposely limited congress' taxation power to funds that provide for the general welfare of the United States."

"U.S. v. Butler held that congress could unilaterally decide what's in the public's interest," Annalise tells Connor.

"But congress can't decide that something that's detrimental to public interest is suddenly beneficial. Universal basic income has been proven to disincentivize people from improving their plight. That's in direct opposition to the general welfare described by Article 1."

Annalise looks at Connor for a moment before speaking. "Mr. Maddox, convince us why we need more prisons."

Connor, a little confused, steps aside, and Gabriel takes the spot in front of the class. "Imagine a murderer doing a couple of years and being released to the streets to kill again. Meanwhile, the victims and the families are never the same. I mean, think about the injustice in that. Your loved one's killer walks free while you suffer. I mean, how is that moral or decent? Once a person commits murder, they are broken. Something inside them is rotten."

"Mr. Maddox, where's the legal argument in all of this?" Annalise cuts in.

"I mean, I can get legal on you. We can talk about how the eighth amendment requires zero restraint when it comes to reoffenders or that four Supreme Court cases upheld this. But this... no, this— this is about what kind of society we want to live in. I mean, how would you feel if your kid got killed? Or your spouse? I mean, you of all people know what that feels like, Professor Keating."

The room gets quiet for a moment. "This is the argument you're taking to the Supreme Court?"

Gabriel nods. "It is. Because that's how you win— with emotion, just like how you did in your case."

"Take a seat," Annalise says after a brief moment.

Gabriel goes over to his desk. "And just so you know, I don't believe I damn thing I just said." He sits down, a smile on his face.

///

"Are you sure this is the right address?" April asks upon seeing the house. They stop in front of the front gate.

"Seriously, this is a little sad for a wedding," Laurel adds.

"Look, guys, Oliver is putting me through school, so I will get married wherever he wants me to get married," Connor tells them.

Oliver then opens the door; he looks excited. "You made it! Come on in."

April and Michaela share a look before entering the gate that Connor opened. Then walk into the house.

"Okay, I'll chip in money for your wedding so that we never have to come here again," Michaela says when she sees the inside of the house.

"I'll pay for the whole wedding if it means not seeing this place ever again," April adds.

"Uh, no— we're not having the wedding here," Oliver tells them. "We're gonna live here."

"No," Michaela and Laurel say.

"Yes! Come on! I mean, it's cheap and huge. And there's even room for a nursery."

"I'm not raising my child in an old frat house, Oliver."

"You're broke," he tells Laurel. "The FBI froze your family's money, and it's mean and selfish to keep leading Frank on. Not to mention, it takes a village to raise a child, so let this be our village!"

"You are insane," Connor says to Oliver.

"No, I'm resourceful, and unless you want to make up with your father so he'll pay for our wedding, this is our only option."

"Your only option," Michaela states. "I'm leaving." She starts walking towards the door but stops when Oliver speaks.

"You owe me this, Michaela!"

"How?"

"Simon is in a detention center right now— or, worse, Pakistan, where he can't speak the language or be gay. So now you have to move in here to make up for it."

"So, Asher already said no?"

"Just say yes. All of you." Oliver moves his attention to all of them. "Say yes to our wonderful, new, cheap life together."

April then speaks up. "That sounds nice, but I just moved into a new place, and I really like it there, so...."

Oliver looks disappointed. "Really?" April nods. "Well, you'll come by."

///

"I got good news," Annalise tells her students the next day. They're all standing at the back of the classroom while Annalise is leaning against her desk. "As of today, this clinic is officially being funded by my employer, Caplan & Gold."

April and Laurel look over at each other— they're standing on opposite sides. "And as a part of the funding, I've created a prize."

Annalise walks over to the blackboard. "Now, the student with the highest ranking at the end of the semester will get this...."

She writes a number on the blackboard; 64,278,00. "A year's tuition paid in full."

Annalise goes back to her desk and picks up a book. "Now, let's see which of you will compete." She opens the book. "Michaela Pratt, take a seat."

"Money's mine, bitches," Michaela whispers to herself as she goes to sit down.

Annalise proceeds to read up to five more names. "Laurel Castillo," she then says. "April Coleman." The two take their seats.

More students fill the seats, and April hopes her friends will get chosen. "Connor Walsh."

"One seat left," Annalise says after Connor sits down. "Now, before I announce this last name, I have a question. Mr. Maddox, is it true you're 2L?"

Gabriel nods. "Yeah."

"You broke the rules."

"It's because you said you don't care about the rules. This was about passion— something I showed you."

"I don't doubt your passion. I doubt that you can handle this on top of your 2L schedule. Why should I trust that you can?"

"Pick me, and I'll show you."

The room is silent. Annalise is trying to decide if she should choose him. And then she does. "Welcome to the clinic, Mr. Maddox."

Gabriel takes a seat. "And the rest of you... change the world on your own."

////

"Almighty and ever-living God, you sent your only son into the world to cast out the power of Satan, to rescue man and bring him into the splendor of your kingdom," the priest is speaking. Laurel is standing up there, holding Christopher. Annalise and Frank are next to her.

"We pray for this child. Set him free from original sin, make him a temple of glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him. We ask this through Christ, our Lord."

"Did he really propose?" Connor asks in a low voice.

April, who is standing next to him, answers. "Yes. And she said no." They keep their voices low, not to disturb.

"Isn't that mean, then, making him godfather?" Oliver asks.

"No, what's mean is you all moving in together after I got booted out of the clinic," Asher replies.

"And I baptize you, Christopher, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of this Holy Spirit."

[papermoonloveslucy]

HOLLYWOOD BOND CAVALCADE

September 4, 1943

On September 4, 1943, the Hollywood Bond Cavalcade departed to raise money for America’s Third War Loan. It began in Washington DC and went through 16 American cities before ending in San Francisco 21 days later. Millions of Americans flocked to these events buying war bonds as their tickets, with seat prices ranging from $18.75 to $1 million. After crossing 10,091 miles, the campaign raised a total of $40,110,000 and pushed America’s War Loan over the $2 billion mark.

The Hollywood Victory Committee was an organization founded on December 10, 1941 during World War II to provide a means for stage, screen, television and radio performers that were not in military service to contribute to the war effort through bond drives and improving morale for troops. It was associated with the Screen Actors Guild. The Committee organized events between January 1942 until August 1945. Its first chairman was Clark Gable. 

This was not the first such event. In 1942, Desi Arnaz participated in the Hollywood Victory Caravan. He was joined by stars Joan Bennett, Joan Blondell, Charles Boyer, James Cagney, Claudette Colbert, Jerry Colonna, Bing Crosby, Olivia de Havilland, Cary Grant, Charlotte Greenwood, Bob Hope, Frances Langford, Laurel and Hardy, Bert Lahr, Groucho Marx, Frank McHugh, Ray Middleton, Merle Oberon, Pat O'Brien, Eleanor Powell, and Risë Stevens. The Caravan show played in 12 cities and netted over $700,000 for Army and Navy relief funds. [Note that in the above Minneapolis welcome sign, Desi’s surname is mis-spelled!]

Along with Lucille Ball, some of the celebrities involved included:

James Cagney ~ had just opened his film Johnny Come Lately on September 3, 1943. 

Judy Garland ~ won a 1940 special Oscar for her contributions to film. In September 1943, she released Thousands Cheer (co-starring Lucille Ball) and two months later, Girl Crazy with Mickey Rooney.  

Mickey Rooney ~ was also in Thousands Cheer with Garland and Ball, as well as premiering Girl Crazy with Judy Garland in November 1943. Rooney won Oscars in 1939 and 1940. In 1966 he played himself on an episode of “The Lucy Show.” 

Kay Kyser ~ was a bandleader who made his film debut with Lucille Ball in That’s Right - You’re Wrong. He made four films in 1943, including Thousands Cheer.  

Paul Henreid ~ was most known for playing Victor Laszlo in Casablanca (1942). His name was mentioned on “I Love Lucy” in “The Adagio” (ILL S1;E12) when Ricky lights two cigarettes at once, just a Paul Henreid did for Bette Davis in 1942′s Now Voyager. 

Greer Garson ~ won Oscars in 1940, 1942, and 1943, for Mrs. Miniver, her most recent success at the time. She had a film in release called The Youngest Profession and was about to debut another hit, Madame Curie. 

Betty Hutton ~ was an actress and singer who was seen that summer of ‘43 in Let’s Face It, starring Bob Hope. 

Kathryn Grayson ~ was  yet another Cavalcade member starring in Thousands Cheer.

Harpo Marx ~ is best known for the act he developed with his brothers that was a hit on Broadway and screen.  He was a silent clown in an over-sized raincoat and fright wig. Lucy and Harpo had appeared together in Room Service in 1938. In 1955, he guest-starred on “I Love Lucy” (S4;E28) as himself. 

Fred Astaire ~ was one of Hollywood’s most legendary dancers. In July 1943 he released The Sky’s The Limit with Joan Leslie. In 1943, he had already done three musical films with Lucille Ball, and was about to film a fourth - Ziegfeld Follies. His name was mentioned on two episodes of “I Love Lucy.” 

Olivia DeHavilland ~ was a two-time Oscar nominee at the time of the Cavalcade. She memorably played Melanie Wilkes in Gone With The Wind in 1939. 

Martha Scott ~ was a 1940 Oscar nominee for the screen version of Our Town. Her film Hi Diddle Diddle was in release during the summer of 1943. 

Dick Powell ~ was preparing to premiere Riding High with Dorothy Lamour in November 1943. He was about to start filming Meet the People with Lucille Ball, which opened in 1944. 

The stars participated upon behest of the US Treasury Department. 

A special 11-car Union Pacific Railroad train carried the stars from Los Angeles, to Washington DC for the kick-off. 

Union Pacific Railroad provided access to their new Domeliner for location and second unit footage on “I Love Lucy” during “The Great Train Robbery” (S5;E5). 

Tour Schedule:

Sept 4 - Depart Los Angeles 

Sept 8 – Washington, DC

Sept 9 – Philadelphia

Sept 10 – Boston

Sept 11 – New York

Sept 12 – Pittsburgh

Sept 13 – Cleveland

Sept 14 – Detroit

Sept 15 – Cincinnati

Sept 16 – Chicago

Sept 17 – Minneapolis

Sept 18 – St Louis

Sept 20 – New Orleans

Sept 21 – Dallas

Sept 22 – San Antonio

Sept 25 – San Francisco

Sept 26 & 27 – Los Angeles

A Typical Cavalcade Performance (depending on celebrity availability) 

Kay Kyser served as master of ceremonies and started the show with his band's theme "Thinking Of You".  James Cagney came on to read a poem - "What Do We Do When We Buy A Bond" - and did two numbers and a dance from Yankee Doodle Dandy, for which he had recently won the Academy Award. Dick Powell then crooned some of his hits: "Don't Give Up The Ship," "Let's Get Lost," "In My Arms," and "Happy Go Lucky".  

Harpo Marx would intermittently chase a blonde across the stage. He eventually settled down to play two harp solos, bang on the piano, wheeze on the harmonica, and finally played a pantomime poker game with Lucille Ball, who had appeared with Harpo in Room Service in 1938 and learned physical comedy at his knee. Harpo ended the game by cutting the cards with an ax!

After Fred Astaire danced, Kyser brought down the house with a burlesque imitation of his style. Mickey Rooney did imitations of Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Wendell Wilkie, and then played the drums.

Betty Hutton performed some hot boogie-woogie. Judy Garland sang "The Man I Love," "Embraceable You," and "Blow, Gabriel, Blow."

Greer Garson urged continued bond purchases, saying, "If we relax, if we don't back the attack, the war will go on indefinitely."

Upon arrival in Washington DC on September 8, Lucille Ball and the stars paraded through the streets in military jeeps, waving to the assembled crowds on their way to the Washington Monument. A similar parade was held in most all subsequent cities. 

After departing DC, the stars embarked on a 15 city ‘barn-storming’ tour of American cities. 

September 9 ~ the Cavalcade played Philadelphia's Convention Hall...

...and moved to play Boston on September 10.

September 11 ~ at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was here that Betty Hutton announced her engagement to camera manufacturer Ted Briskin. They tied the knot in 1945 but the marriage ended in divorce in 1951.  

September 12 ~ Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The newspapers promoted its arrival with this photo from their Los Angeles departure. 

September 13 ~ the Cavalcade rolled through Cleveland, Ohio the stars spoke to an assembly of Defense Workers. That night, at the Civic Auditorium, Kay Kyser auctioned off an American flag for $10,000,000 and two pounds of butter and a three pound steak for $100,000 each!

September 14 ~ Detroit, Michigan

September 15 ~ Cincinnati, Ohio. Stars rode into town on chartered Cincinnati Street Railway buses kicked off at Union Station. Lucille Ball is 8th from the right, next to Harpo Marx. 

September 16 in Chicago’s Soldier Field. 

September 17 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

September 18 in St. Louis, Missouri at the Kiel Auditorium.  Most of the stars lodged at the Hotel Jefferson, where police had to chase 300 autograph hounds out of the lobby. They also had to drag a high school girl out from beneath Fred Astaire's bed.  In another incident, surging fans shattered a plate glass window, which tore Judy Garland's dress to shreds.

September 19 was left as an ‘open’ day in New Orleans, Louisiana, before their official performances on September 20 at the Tad Gormley Stadium.  Variety reported the crowd at 50,000, The States stated it was between 65,000 and 75,000, while The Item claimed 100,000 showed up, despite the actual venue only seating 35,000! 

September 21 in Dallas, Texas at the Cotton Bowl... 

...and in San Antonio, Texas on September 22.

September 25 in San Francisco to perform... 

...and on September 26 went home to Los Angeles to conclude the 10,000 mile tour. A crowd of 6,000 greeted them at the station in Glendale as the Navy Band played "California, Here I Come."  

The song would memorably be sung on “I Love Lucy” to launch the Hollywood episodes in 1955.

Lucille Ball helped sell bonds throughout her career.  Click here for a look at Lucy and US Savings Bonds! 

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

How Did Durham Come to Single Out Israel?

How did the Durham City Council come to single out Israel and the Jewish people? How did we get here? This column seeks to answer these questions by highlighting the anti-Israel activism and fringe political positions of Durham City Council members that needlessly led to Durham’s boycott of police trainings with Israel.

I will also discuss the challenges of accessing the public record in Durham, the lack of transparency and accountability of the Durham City Council, and the bias and conflict of interest of high ranking members of the Durham Human Relations Commission (HRC).

Much of the information reported in this column is the result of my year long investigation which has included dozens of public records requests, meetings with Durham City officials, and attending a number of Durham City Council and Human Relations Commission meetings.

Mayor Steve Schewel

According to City Council member Mark-Anthony Middleton, “Our mayor [Steve Schewel] exclusively penned the statement we voted on.”

Mayor Schewel was a member of Jews for a Just Peace-North Carolina (JFAJP-NC) which was known for noxious anti-Israel activism such as protesting Israel on Yom Kippur – the holiest day of Judaism – and protesting an Israeli dance company visiting Durham. JFAJP-NC later morphed into the local chapter of the anti-Zionist JVP. Mayor Schewel has admitted donating to JVP.

Beth Bruch of JFAJP-NC and JVP, and campaign donor to Mayor Pro Tempore Jillian Johnson, protesting Israel on Yom Kippur.

When speaking at the largest Jewish congregation in Durham in October of 2018, Schewel was greeted with widespread anger and frustration and was repeatedly interrupted with pleas from the congregation to remove the specific targeting of Israel from the Council statement. Strikingly, this was Schewel’s very own congregation and it overwhelmingly rejected his anti-Israel foreign policy.

The mainstream Jewish community, including the Jewish Federation of Durham-Chapel Hill, the local synagogues (including Schewel’s own synagogue), many prominent community members, local rabbis, and even several holocaust survivors wrote strong letters opposing Schewel’s targeting of the Jewish state. An 87 year-old Holocaust survivor wrote that Schewel contributes to “hate and intolerance.”

A 2015 campaign report by “Steve Schewel for City Council” indicates that one of Schewel’s campaign donors is Thomas Stern, who was a JFAJP-NC leader and is now a local JVP leader. Stern, representing JVP and other local groups, lobbied Schewel and City Council members to boycott police trainings with Israel.

Members of The North Carolina Coalition for Israel, who filed the third lawsuit against Durham and city officials, have been recently speaking at City Council meetings on anti-Semitism. In a move that has hurt the Jewish community, Mayor Schewel limited some public commenters to just one minute to speak on this important topic, not the customary three minutes. A fellow member of Schewel’s synagogue decried this as “Jew time.”

Mayor Pro Tempore Jillian Johnson

Durham’s Mayor Pro Tempore, Jillian Johnson, has been an anti-Israel activist since at least 2002 while a student at Duke. There she signed DukeDivest which called on the university to “end military ties to Israel.” In 2002 she wrote a editorial in the Duke Chronicle in which she called for “military divestment from Israel,” yet admitted that her “argument can be used to promote divestment from dozens of countries.” Johnson explained, “but change must begin somewhere.” In other words, Johnson believes that targeting Israel – the only Jewish majority country on the planet – is where to begin foreign policy. Johnson clearly took this Israel first worldview into her role as a member of the Durham City Council.

[harryandmeghan0-blog]

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton greet each other with KISS at Commonwealth Day service - Express

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Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton greet each other with KISS at Commonwealth Day service - Express

The two Duchesses could be seen cordially kissing each other hello after at the entrance of Westminster Abbey. It comes after reports Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton are in the middle of a feud after Prince William told his younger brother, Prince Harry that the Duchess of Sussex was “not Princess material”. The two Duchesses attended the Westminster Abbey service to celebrate the Commonwealth with their respective husbands.

The Queen is also in attendance at the event, but she arrived without her husband Prince Philip, who retired from royal engagements in 2017.

She was accompanied by her son Prince Andrew.

With her family gathered around her, the Queen joined the 2,000-strong congregation at Westminster Abbey to honour the institution which has been a pivotal part of her 66-year reign.

Harry and Meghan were the first senior royals to arrive for the Commonwealth Day service, followed by William and Kate then Charles and Camilla and finally the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of York.

Outside the Abbey’s west door they were treated to a performance by the Tropical Flowers Sega Dancers, a group of British Mauritians from south London.

The Commonwealth plays an important part in the public life of the Queen, who famously dedicated herself to the empire on her 21st birthday in 1947.

Now head of the Commonwealth, the then Princess Elizabeth said that day: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family, to which we all belong.”

When the Queen arrived and turned to look at her grandsons and their wives, Kate and Meghan both curtseyed while William and Harry bowed their heads.

Earlier in the day the Duke and Duchess of Sussex met young Canadians who are forging ahead in the fields of fashion, tech entrepreneurship, business and the arts as they celebrated Commonwealth Day.

Harry and Megan visited Canada House to attend the event showcasing the best of Canadian talent in the UK.

The Duchess was wearing a stunning green outfit and despite being around seven months pregnant showed no sign of slowing down.

The couple were welcomed by Canada’s High Commissioner to the UK Janice Charette and signed a visitors’ book in the lobby of the building overlooking Trafalgar Square to mark the start of their visit.

Commonwealth Day is traditionally marked by a service which the duke and duchess will attend at Westminster Abbey with the Queen, other senior royals and figures from national life.

In her message to mark Commonwealth Day, the head of state has praised how the family of nations inspires its member states to find ways of protecting the planet and its citizens.

Millions of people are “drawn together” because of the collective values shared by the institution, the Queen said in her address to the 53 countries of the Commonwealth.

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/02/23/the-golden-globes-biggest-winner-may-be-the-group-that-hands-them-out/

The Golden Globes’ Biggest Winner May Be the Group That Hands Them Out

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been widely viewed as colorful, generally harmless, perhaps venal and not necessarily journalistically productive. But because the group puts on the Golden Globes, courting the favor of its members — there are only 87 — has become a ritualized Tinseltown pursuit.

Celebrities send them handwritten holiday cards. Studios put them up at five-star hotels. Champagne, pricey wine, signed art, cashmere blankets, slippers, record players, cakes, headphones and speakers are among the gifts that have arrived at their doorsteps, recipients say.

The suitors — studios, production companies, strategists and publicists — are all chasing the same thing: members’ votes. Every one counts. A Golden Globe nomination, and certainly a win, is a publicity boon that can boost careers, jack up box office earnings and foreshadow an Academy Award.

Boozy, irreverent and generally jolly good fun, the Globes are the third most-watched awards show after the Grammys and the much more staid Academy Awards. The show occupies a curious place in the entertainment industry. Mocking the Globes, and their occasionally off-the-wall nominations and picks, as irrelevant has become an annual blood sport in the Hollywood press, which covers them anyway, and the association’s members, many of whom work for obscure outlets, are regularly painted as doddering, out of touch and faintly corrupt.

“The Golden Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton,” Ricky Gervais, who has hosted them multiple times, said at the ceremony in 2012. “Bit louder. Bit trashier. Bit drunker. And more easily bought, allegedly. Nothing’s been proved.”

But on the eve of the Feb. 28 show, a recent lawsuit and a series of interviews and financial records are providing a more unsparing look at the group, which does not publicly list its roster, admits very few applicants, and, despite being a media association, has some members who say they are fearful of speaking to the press. The group is also coming under increased scrutiny from news organizations, including The Los Angeles Times, which recently delved into their finances; one of its findings, that the group has no Black members, made headlines.

The latest re-examination began last year when, Kjersti Flaa, a Norwegian reporter who has thrice been denied admittance to the group, and whose romantic partner is a member, sued the organization, saying that it acted as a monopoly, hogging prized interviews even though relatively few of its members actively worked as journalists. Studios went along to ingratiate themselves, she said, because of the value of the members’ votes.

“It’s very obvious who’s important for the studios and who’s not,” Flaa said in an interview. “And the thing is, no one has said anything about this before. It’s just been accepted.”

Members are territorial and loath to welcome competitors, she alleged, lobbying each other to accept or deny entry to new applicants, with little consideration for journalistic merits. Flaa pointed to a fracas involving a Russian member who in 2015 was accused of demanding that a Ukranian applicant not write for any Russian outlets and hand over her extra Golden Globes tickets — and guarantee her promise in a notarized letter — in exchange for being considered for admission.

Flaa said outsiders had a nickname for the association: “The cartel.”

The association would not comment specifically on the 2015 incident, but Gregory Goeckner, the organization’s chief operating officer and general counsel, said that such actions were prohibited, and that in 2018 its board approved a policy confirming any such letters as “void and unenforceable.” Goeckner also described Flaa’s allegations as “salacious,” and said it was studios, not the association, that made decisions about press access.

A judge threw out the majority of Flaa’s suit, but she has recently amended it, and another journalist who also has been denied entry to the association has joined her complaint.

Several current and former association members said Flaa’s accounts of the inner machinations were accurate, but requested anonymity because they said they feared retaliation from the group.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was born in the ’40s, when foreign correspondents covering Hollywood banded together to gain access to movie stars. The Globes recognize movies and television, and is chockablock with stars, with nary a snoozy category — no sound editing prize here. As the awards industry complex mushroomed — it’s now a near year-round enterprise shaped by strategists and closely tracked by reporters — members’ relative power grew too.

After the show was picked up by television, it became a golden goose. In 2018, NBC agreed to pay $60 million a year for broadcast rights, about triple the previous licensing fee. While the Academy Awards and the Emmys have lost millions of viewers in recent years, the Golden Globes audience has held steady at 18 million to 20 million, which is why NBC was willing to fork up.

“It’s a big-tent network television show, and as such, invaluable to film campaigns hoping to contend for Oscar nominations and wins,” said Tony Angellotti, a publicist who runs awards campaigns, in an email. “And the H.F.P.A. track record for identifying worthy films is indisputable. That’s not nothing.”

To be able to vote for a Globe, members must publish at least six times a year, and attend 25 of the association’s news conferences, where celebrities and newsmakers are invited to appear, several members confirmed. If members want to travel to film festivals on the association’s dime, they have to attend even more news conferences, according to a copy of the travel policies reviewed by The New York Times. The rules say they don’t have to produce any press clippings related to their travels if they take five or fewer trips.

Because the organization is a nonprofit, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is also tax-exempt. The filing from the tax year ending in June 2019 showed that the group was sitting on about $55 million in cash. It donated about $5 million to assorted causes, including $500,000 to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and $500,000 to the environmental site Inside Climate News.

“The funding was enormously important,” David Sassoon, the founder and publisher of Inside Climate News, said in an email. “It solidified our finances and helped us get through the nightmares of 2020.”

According to the tax filings, the tax-exempt nonprofit paid more than $3 million in salaries and other compensation to members and staff. The tax filing also showed $1.3 million in travel costs for that year; the association has said it typically pays the expenses of members who seek to travel to film festivals and the like.

There is also compensation for performing duties that several members say used to be done for free. Being on the association’s TV Viewing Committee pays $1,000 a month, according to the treasurer’s report from the association’s January general meeting. Members of the Foreign Film Watching Committee pocket $3,465 apiece. Two dozen people sit on that committee, according to the minutes, which meant that the demands of watching international movies cost the association $83,160 in one month.

The association also has an advisory committee, a history committee, a welfare committee, a travel committee, a film festival committee, a financial committee and an events committee — all of which come with stipends, according to the treasurer’s report.

Some members said the number of paying committees has exploded in recent years, with members jockeying to nab multiple positions and loyalty rewarded with committee appointments. This has caused angst for some who want to see the association become less of a punchline around town. One member worried that the group will become overrun by members who draw most of their income from the organization and not from journalism.

Goeckner said the association only remunerates members when they do extra work and basically serve as employees, doing tasks that would constitute paid staff work elsewhere. The compensation, he said, was “orders of magnitude less” than what similar organizations pay. And he noted that the group was “not a charity,” and that its accumulated capital was earmarked for a planned upgrade of its West Hollywood headquarters.

Still, there is debate over how much of its earnings the association should keep to itself.

Flaa’s lawyer, David Quinto, said that by virtue of its tax-exempt status, the association should be benefiting foreign arts journalists more broadly, not just the ones in the group. He said the association “believes it is above the law” and called its conduct “blatantly improper.”

But Ofer Lion, a Los Angeles lawyer with expertise on tax-exempt organizations, said that mutual benefit corporations like the association need only benefit a common purpose of its members, and as a 501(c) (6) tax-exempt organization, must only ensure they in some way benefit their industry overall. Payments to members for their work for the organization are legal, he said, as long as they are considered reasonable.

“There are some healthy numbers on there,” Lion said, after reviewing the organization’s tax return, “but not really beyond the pale.”

The group’s stated mission is essentially to help bolster ties between the United States and foreign countries by covering its culture and entertainment industry. But it has continuously come under scrutiny when puzzling award decisions have been handed down, most infamously in 1982, when Pia Zadora was named best new star over Kathleen Turner and Elizabeth McGovern. It was later revealed that Zadora’s producer, who also happened to be her husband, had flown the group to Las Vegas before the vote. CBS, which had been airing the show, dropped its broadcast, and it would be years before it returned to network television.

In 2014, a former association president published a memoir in which he suggested that his colleagues could be swayed by favor trading.

The association has tried to rehabilitate its image in recent years. In 1999, it sent back $400 Coach watches given to members by a film company and asked members in 2016 to return part of the Tom Ford-branded fragrance gift sent to each of them from the producers of “Nocturnal Animals.”

Nowadays, members aren’t supposed to accept gifts in excess of $125. (The group says it has adopted a “more robust” gift policy.) Still, they can be wooed. For some, there was little surprise when the frothy series “Emily in Paris” — which got decidedly mixed reviews from critics — picked up two Golden Globe nominations this year. In September 2019, dozens of association members flew to Paris to visit the “Emily” set and were put up by the Paramount Network at the five-star Peninsula hotel.

And although there purportedly has been a wave of reforms, the group’s eclectic membership list has remained largely the same for years.

A review of a 2020 roster shows that its members include Yola Czaderska-Hayek, a woman known as the “Polish First Lady of Hollywood”; Alexander Nevsky, a former Mr. Universe and bodybuilder who has starred in movies like “Moscow Heat”; and Judy Solomon, an organization veteran of more than 60 years who has drawn attention for her role as what The Daily Beast called “The Golden Globes Seating Arbiter,” a job of no small importance when it comes to seating celebrities at the ceremony without ruffling feathers.

In statements provided to The New York Times, two longtime members of the organization expressed pride in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and its work. One of the members, Meher Tatna, the current board chair, touted the group’s philanthropic initiatives, saying it received thank-you letters year-round.

Czaderska-Hayek echoed that pride in a video posted on YouTube by the Polish government in 2010, but also noted that membership demands could be taxing.

“It’s unbelievably hard work,” Czaderska-Hayek said, according to the video’s English subtitles. “We must see at least 300 U.S. films every year.”

Alain Delaquérière and Kitty Bennett contributed research.

Source

[gigsoupmusic]

AVA London (Printworks, 13-14 March 2020). Conference and Club showcase (culminating in an epic virus-defying live set from Orbital).

Well done to AVA London for pulling off, in the light of the Coronavirus pandemic, a two-day conference-and-club showcase at the enormous Printworks complex in south-east London. Friday the 13th was dedicated to a series of conferences and interviews spearheaded by music industry leaders, held in four different rooms simultaneously. Saturday was dedicated to electronic music, both DJ and live, with ample chances to network further and mingle with like-minded members of the EDM tribe.

We start our review with the Friday conference. Please scroll down if you are solely interested in Orbital, though we'd love it if you can read about all the fantastic industry-specific sessions as well! Everything hinged upon Thursday's COBRA meeting, and AVA London and the guys at Broadwick Live, as well as those who had been looking forward to the event, must have been very relieved when Public Health England gave the go-ahead for mass gatherings to carry on as normal. It was certainly touch-and-go (no pun intended). Gratitude must also be bestowed upon the organisers for ensuring that the toilets were plentiful and kept clean, staff did not use their fingers to open cans, and there were fully-stocked hand sanitiser dispensers on almost every wall. We were surprised by how easily people had got into the custom of touching elbows instead of shaking hands; something that looked so alien when seen at the start of football matches a couple of weeks ago this weekend seemed second nature.

Friday morning began with registrations and a chance to get one's bearings around the various rooms in Printworks, and visit the various stalls run by the likes of Denon DJ, Noatune Studios and Point Blank Music School, among others. The opening keynote talk was about 30 Years of Ninja Tune, with Coldcut, Actress and Jayda G. Sadly, Coldcut had had to pull out, as they were feeling ill so it was a sensible decision, but there was still a full house to listen to what Actress and Jayda G had to say and they did not disappoint. Actress (real name Darren J Cunningham) became a music producer at a young age, his footballing career with West Brom having been curtailed following an injury. He set up his own label, Werkdiscs, in 2004, but soon became bored with genre-specific nights (eg techno, drum'n'bass). Nowadays, genre-collision is commonplace, but when he started doing it it was liberating and, in his words, quite groundbreaking. Winning numerous accolades for his second album, Splazsh, it was not long before he began working in 2014 with Ninja Tune, the famous label originally set up by Coldcut in 1990, feeling immediately at ease with their ninja-style logo, which resonated with Actress's jujitsu dabblings in his youth.

(from left to right: host Joe Muggs, Jayda G, and Actress) Actress has also been innovative in the field of artificial intelligence and music, in a musical project called Young Paint. Recently, having been unable to make a flight to Sónar Istambul for a gig (Coronavirus, again), he was able to send co-ordinates over to a stand-in so that a gig he was scheduled to perform there could still go ahead as planned. The program he uses re-interprets his own sounds, so this was not as daunting a task as one would first imagine. (We touched upon AI and music in our review of Y△CHT's gig last month – this is clearly becoming a hot topic in the music industry right now!) Canadian Jayda G is a relative newcomer both to the music world and to Ninja Tune. Having completed a masters degree in environmental toxicology in Vancouver just a couple of years ago, Jayda admits that he has been learning as she goes. 'The best thing in this industry is to know yourself as an artist and be really grounded in that', she confides to host Joe Muggs. She loved the fact that Ninja Tune respected this and did not treat her any differently because of her choices. Muggs reflected on just how diverse Ninja Tune's repertoire of talent really is, especially when one considers they also have huge names such as Bonobo on their books, who sells out stadia in the US, occasionally accompanied by an 11-piece orchestra. He fondly remembered bumping into Matt Black in the chill-out room of the old squatted DSS office on Coldharbour Lane in the mid-90s. He was in awe at seeing how Matt and Hex were able to come up with sophisticated visuals using an old Amiga computer, everything working perfectly among the high-spirited mayhem that surrounded them. We too were at these legendary parties (Brixton CoolTan Arts Collective), and can fortunately share in his happy recollections of these special events. (See the Urban 75 website's page on CoolTan for more information about this amazing place.) Following the opening keynote event, we tried to attend as many of the simultaneous streams as possible, though of course we couldn't be everywhere at the same time, so we probably missed quite a lot.

Upstairs, Oliver Hackett chaired a discussion about the power of the brand in the festival world. Branding is so important when it comes to festivals, especially as it can mean that tickets can be sold even before line-ups are announced, as customers become loyal when they have a good experience.

The panel discussed all manner of things, from how they look after the schedules of their residents, through to the need to change the various support acts, so as to keep things fresh but familiar at the same time. Meanwhile, Tristan Hunt was moderating a discussion on the climate crisis. This was a very lively talk, reflecting on how we all need to become more responsible, from the fans to the event organisers to the artists themselves. Artists should learn the science, not post fake news on their social media, and certainly refrain from posting photos on their Insta accounts of them jetting off to perform at gigs: the glorification of flying needs to end. We learned that the culture industry is the second largest in the UK after finance, and that we all need to play our bit.

With regards merch, we need to be aware that a single kilo of cotton needs twenty tons of water in its manufacture. We need to stop using single-use plastics. We should sign up on the Music Declares Emergency website, which calls for immediate governmental responses. Those who sign up acknowledge the environmental impact the music industry has and commit themselves to promote cultural change. We need to analyse how we travel to festivals, discourage punters from driving or, if there is no viable option via public transport, encourage lift-sharing. There is no specific problem that we cannot solve – it is all about the mindset. The panel praised Glastonbury's recent efforts, not just in their banning of plastic bottles last year, but in the creation of the Gas Tower stage in the Shangri-La area, made out of 10 tonnes of plastic collected from beaches in south west England, an initiative that really makes the fans feel they are making a tangible difference. But when we see festivals falling short on sustainability, we need to call them out. Lobby them about their lack of green credentials, write a letter to the local politician if you're so inclined, or even to your own politician. Keep the pressure on! Be inventive! The panel referred to a recent festival which used an Australian animal as their logo; they were lobbied to raise money for the bushfires in Australia. Other suggestions included a call to start your own movement and have a real impact on your local community. If you are well-organised, you could easily impact 200-300 people without too much effort. Also, make an effort to invest only in ethical, sustainable companies that you believe in. When it comes to festivals, support events that really make an effort to be greener, even if they are a little more expensive because of their sustainability credentials. Finally, the panel endorsed Giki, an app that helps you shop more sustainably in the UK and cut down your own environmental impact. Giki's website is here. For us, the best discussion came next: "The Art of Self Care", chaired by Tom Middleton, the legendary recording artist and DJ, and one half of course of Global Communication among many other projects (do try to catch Global Communication on 19 September at the Jazz Café in their much-anticipated rescheduled concert, where Middleton will be joined by Ross Sampson and a string quartet to perform live classics from their 76:14 album, among others).

We had no idea that he was also a sleep expert, an issue very close to our own hearts. This was by far and away the best discussion of the day, and included two mental health professionals (Lara Cullen from The People Person, as well as music support counsellor, singer and trained psychotherapist Denise Sherwood) who were joined by Tristan Hunt again, fresh from his discussions on climate change. The music industry is not an easy one and is tough on artists' and producers' mental health. This should come as no surprise to anyone, given the amount of high-profile people we have lost prematurely in recent years. What can we do, as a community, to help not just our own mental health but those around us? Cullen admitted that there is a perception that people in the music industry feel they must always put on a happy face, however implausible their constant happiness must be. She is however hopeful for the future, as there is nowadays much more openness about mental health; artists are on the whole happier to talk about it than in the past. Hunt agreed with this, and showed how the very existence of this discussion shows how far we have come in destigmatising mental health.

Sherwood said that it should be 'okay to say that you're not okay', and bigged up the great work done by the independent charity Help Musicians UK, highly recommending their academic study on the incidence of mental health and musicians called Can Music Make You Sick?, and the report can be downloaded for free from here. Hunt revealed that suicide is four times higher in the music community than in society as a whole. Electronic music creation can be a lonely job, particularly when starting out. Pay can be low, and invariably you would need to hold down another job as well. When you factor in time spent working your day-job, time performing and time in the studio, as well as dealing with social media, there's very little time left to sleep, and because one's life is so topsy-turvy, said sleep can be very poor quality indeed. This leads invariably to poor mental health. Social media is a particular bug-bear for Tom Middleton, so much so that he deleted all social media apps from his mobile phone, dedicating just a single night a week (Fridays) to reply to his various messages. It is so different to the 'faceless techno' of the 90s. Nowadays, it is all about getting one's followers (and, sadly, having to read online hatred from trolls, some of the time). This means huge added pressure, both emotional and physical. Mental health must come first. Switch off those apps! (Most mobile phones will show you how many hours a day you use social media. If you do not know, do check it out. You may be surprised!) Unlike your typical 9-to-5 job, the music industry is anything but. It does not get any easier once you are more successful! Constantly flying across time-zones to perform, plays havoc on one's body clock. This, coupled with the constant oscillations of seratonin, dopamine and oxytocin: the euphoria of the DJ booth or the stage, followed by the isolation of the hotel room.

Hunt recommended some simple techniques to help bring about a kind of routine, even something small such as doing stretching exercises before turning on the WiFi after waking up. Middleton agreed: 'We are normalised by routine as a species'. He tells us how we are in fact the only species to disrupt that innate normalisation. We don't give ourselves a chance to stop. We need to recalibrate. Cullen chipped in to explain how important it is to look after ourselves physically too. Make changes that work for you. For her, it was giving up alcohol, which she did nine months ago. Not that she is suggesting anyone else should do that: 'Alcohol is fun', she chuckled. But it worked for her. Middleton has some other techniques, to trick the body into thinking it's night-time when it isn't; using things such as SleepSound ear plugs (which reduce sleep-disrupting noise by 36dB but still allow you to hear alarms or crying babies) and high-quality eye-masks. If on tour, go out in the morning without sunglasses, and wear shades only in the afternoon. When going to bed, simulate a sunset by using red bedside lights – he recommended Himalayan crystal salt lamps. Drink 8-10 cups of water a day, avoid caffeine after midday, and aim for 7.5 hours' sleep if possible. Alcohol can also be a disruptor of REM sleep. He then spoke about the four sleep Chronotypes (wolf, bear, lion and dolphin). Google it for more information!

Another tip was using CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) to remove negative thought. Write down the things stressing you out onto a piece of paper, then throw it away (as though you are symbolically throwing away your negativity). Then write down a new list, of all the things you need to do the following day. Practice gratitude, and try to crack a smile. Get the tech out of the bedroom, no browsing just before bed, and switch on that red lamp. Those who have difficulty sleeping can try a variety of substances, including magnesium, passion flower and chamomile tea. Kiwi fruit, as well as tryptophan-heavy foods such as turkey, can also be very helpful. Listening to recordings of nature, especially waterfalls and the sea, can be very useful too. (Middleton's latest album is a scientifically-tested album of soundcapes, Sleep Soundly, which saw him collaborate with cognitive neuroscientists and is so effective it has to have a disclaimer not to listen to it while driving or operating machinery). We will have to give it a listen! Of course, it doesn't have to be music or sounds of the sea. There are plenty of sleepcasts out there, many of which can be found for free on YouTube. These are spoken word audio-files, told in a deadpan way, showing that bed-time stories needn't solely be the remit of the young child. How appropriate that this discussion took place on 13th March 2020, World Sleep Day! Time to move to another room. We chose the interesting discussion moderated by Sarah McBriar from AVA, asking innovators in immersive technology what actually makes an experience truly immersive. Should we start with the creative concept or with the technology? Many examples were given on the screens throughout the discussion, including some of the panellists' fantastic visuals at Glastonbury, including Dan Tombs's projections which accompanied Jon Hopkins's show at The Park stage among others. For a show to be truly immersive, 'You need to be transported from somewhere else', said Tombs.

They also gave some great examples of great practice, such as the recent Punchdrunk production (Beyond the Road: Journeys in Sound and Space) at the Saatchi Gallery, which used music by James Lavelle. If you missed it, it's impossible to describe. They also mentioned the awesome Four Tet gig at Alexandra Palace, a surround-sound immersive experience which also featured tens of thousands of light-bulbs (installed by Squidsoup). The panellists were jealous they hadn't thought of doing something similar themselves. So, as you can see, It's not just about the visuals any more. So much is happening now with binaural technology, a feeling of really being immersed inside the sound. The future is really limited only by one's imagination. And, of course, by technology. The advent of 5G will help, but right now the biggest stumbling block is interoperability: getting devices to talk to one another, quickly, to make the show more efficient. We were unable to get even 4G on our phones inside Printworks, so we concur absolutely with these thoughts! GIGsoup readers may remember we reviewed Bit-Phalanx's 24rpm EDM festival last October, which included an opportunity to try out Björk's immersive virtual reality experience of her Vulnicura album. We asked the panel whether they could foresee VR being used in large-scale settings, eg as another way of immersing oneself at a live concert. Sadly, they did not believe the technology is really there yet. Much more plausible would be possibly integrating augmented reality instead: people bring their phones to record their own memories of gigs anyway so, since they are already pointing their screens up to the stage, it isn't inconceivable that AR could be integrated to make a concert seem more immersive – at least the technology is already there for this! It goes without saying that we think that Björk has really nailed something here: so impressed were we, that we foresee more artists' albums coming out in VR in the future, perhaps even re-issues like Vulnicura, for people to immerse themselves into the music in the comforts of their own homes. But as for using it in a large-scale crowd setting, we 're not quite there yet! We then learned that Orbital sadly were not going to be able to give the closing keynote speech. Again, Coronavirus had intervened, this time affecting their travel arrangements. We were relieved to learn that at least they were still due to be performing on the Saturday, which you can read about later on in this review. The Hartnoll brothers were replaced by a chat with Maribou State (Chris Davids and Liam Ivory). They gave us an engaging talk about how they produce music together. Whereas they used to have a studio, circumstances have now changed for them, and geography has meant that lately they have needed to collaborate remotely. This is the first time they are in this situation, though have some studio-time booked up from next May so as to work on their upcoming album, in places as diverse as Devon, Derby and (Coronavirus permitting) Hamburg.

When they are in the studio they do like to be in places where there are as few distractions as possible. In the countryside, you sometimes cannot even get a mobile phone signal, which helps. Now they can often put in 20-hour sessions. (At this point, we really should remind our readers of Tom Middleton's warnings about this kind of lifestyle, see above!) Maribou State then joked (or were they?) that if they do have to self-isolate because of the ongoing pandemic, this will be a wonderful excuse to make even more music, undisturbed. Let's hope that things don't get so bad!

There wasn't really anything too deep about this session, no doubt because it had been put together in a hurry. Some of the questions would have seemed more ideally suited for Orbital. For example, the host (Observer columnist Séamas O'Reilly) asked the duo about how they felt about the dwindling London club scene, with so many venues shutting down (notwithstanding the fabulous Printworks, an unusual recent welcome addition). While it would have been fascinating to hear the Hartnolls' response, having been there right from the beginning, Maribou State made us feel rather old by saying that when they first moved to London, most of the clubs were already closed or closing (they just caught the final nights at The End and Canvas). Therefore, they've never known anything else, having 'missed the golden era. So it seems the norm now'. Ah, to be young again! And with this, the Friday conference was over, though there was some music and final cocktails to enjoy in the backstage bar. All in all, a fantastic day out; though, if we were to have any criticism, it would be to try to have a little more gender diversity on the panels in future. Female faces were few and far between. Of course, this is largely a problem with the industry as a whole, and the discussion panels were simply reflective of this. Hopefully next year we will see more gender diversity everywhere. Saturday was a brand new day and our minds were getting excited about Orbital. When we turned up we were immediately disorientated, as the Printworks venue was laid out in a completely different way to how it was on the Friday. We were of course worried about how many people would even be there given the barrage of scary rolling news. We knew that 3,700 tickets had been sold. In the end, almost 2,000 people decided to take one for Team #Herd-Immunity which was amazing. Not that we were at all worried. Having been there on the Friday we knew that Printworks were taking hygiene extremely seriously. We were probably safer than in our own sitting room. We normally only cover live music so we were rushing to get there for Overmono, but we were happy we got there early and caught the tail-end of Ross from Friends' DJ set. Real name: Felix Clary Weatherall – no relation to the much-missed Andy Weatherall who was initially scheduled to be here this weekend before he was cruelly taken from us last month. Felix is the son of Jamie Clary, who for the older GIGsoup readers here is 1980s squat-party royalty. In the past few years, Felix/Ross has been making a huge name for himself ever since being taken under the wing of Flying Lotus. We loved his Balearic-tinged lo-fi set, which was appreciated fully by the congregated masses.

(Overmono) We made sure we were in pole position for two brothers named Tom and Ed. No, it wasn't Tom and Ed Chemical, who aren't even brothers anyway, but the aforementioned bona fide siblings known as Overmono (also known as Truss and Tessela), who played a beautiful downtempo techno set (we're not sure how else to describe it) which included all their hits, including "The Mabe" and "Machine Love", though it was "Daisy Chain" that succeeded in blissing us out.

Such a clean sound, and wonderful to see them playing it all live – it was a real privilege. Overmono have been entertaining the crowds everywhere, from Moscow to Osaka, so it was great to see them up-close here in London. Joy Orbison adequately filled the subsequent 90-minute gap until the headline act, the wonderful Phil and Paul Hartnoll, in other words the legendary duo that is Orbital. Oh, Orbital. We have seen them live so many times we have lost count, from New Year's Eve at Alexandra Palace in 1996 to countless raves and parties and, of course, their era-defining performances at Glastonbury Festival (where they are strongly rumoured to be headlining in the Dance Field later this year). Standing backstage, we were watching them get ready, making sure the batteries were working in their famous head-lights, egging one another on, prepping themselves like wrestlers about to enter the ring. It was just fabulous to see these two legends prepare, knowing what was going to come next. Please indulge us as we share some of the photos – unless you are truly an Orbital fan, like we are, this will mean nothing to you….

Those headlights have a special place in our hearts. It took us right back to when we were in a nightclub called Arsenal in Oliva, near Valencia in Spain, in 1990, and we chatted in the car-park to the super-approachable legendary DJ Chimo Bayo, world-famous for his groundbreaking and genre-defining mákina hit "Así me gusta a mí (X-Ta Sí X-Ta No)" (yes, we are showing our age here). The double headlamp was a beautiful gimmick that Bayo started but Orbital redoubled and took to stratospheric levels. Normally, when we are at festivals for Orbital concerts, we never actually see the Hartnoll brothers' faces, but instead see four lights bobbing up and down in the smoky haze. We were more excited to see these headlamps up close than we were to see any item in the British Museum in recent visits. Even though Orbital have probably gone through hundreds if not thousands of headlamps since the early 90s. We are not ashamed of this.

Anyhow, enough of the sycophancy, we have a review to get on with writing. To rapturous applause, Phil and Paul came on stage. Phil had his sweater rolled up over his mouth to begin with, a cheeky nod to the Coronavirus pandemic. They began with "Monsters Exist", the title track to their recent album of the same name, which is utterly suggestive of a bleak dystopian future. It is an amazing prelude to an outstanding album that is up there with their classics. You cannot help feel that you are in the middle of a video game trying to escape monsters. What a start!

A sample of Professor Brian Cox's voice, telling us about how the universe will one day come to an end, meant that the Hartnoll brothers were going to regale us with their challenging song "There will come a time". This would surely not be an obvious choice were it not for the unusual situation with which we are currently faced. If you are unfamiliar with the track, it is basically a monologue specially recorded by Professor Cox for the band about the future, with an ultimately encouraging message that the time is now to embrace curiosity and love.

Orbital continued with this theme, playing the famous sample 'It's, it's, it's like a cry for survival' which segued into that famous 303 sound and those instantly recognisable dissonant horns; we were transported back to the early 90s for one of their most celebrated songs, "Impact (The Earth is Burning)" from their Orbital 2 album (chromatically identified by everyone as the "brown" album). From thereon in, the brothers treated us to hit after hit, plucked from their 30-year back-catalogue, dipping only occasionally into some of their newer stuff. We knew that this was an extraordinary concert, perhaps the last live gig for some time before the government invariably stops mass gatherings. The point about our ongoing fight for survival had been made. Now it was time to lighten the mood.

Orbital started to play "Wonky", the title track from the album of the same name. We hadn't danced so much in ages. Everyone we met was so lovely. A surreal moment then happened when we bumped backstage into comedian and actor Mat Horne (Gavin from Gavin and Stacey, and the grandson to Catherine Tate's wonderful Nan character). You couldn't meet a nicer chap.

He is a close friend of the Hartnoll brothers and, as any Orbital anorak will tell you, gets tormented and ultimately killed by a cat in the actual musical video for "Wonky". Time to share one of Orbital's best videos (and songs) from the current millennium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9675nvyses Having seen Orbital so many times over the years decades, we were relieved that this was a very adult set, for the cognoscenti. It was without a doubt one of their best. They didn't bother with the over-commercial fodder like their remix of the theme-tune to The Saint or, God help us, Doctor Who; songs which, while fun, are a little bit cringey when you consider their back catalogue. Okay, we did get a very short spurt of "Heaven is a Place of Earth", mixed as usual into their highly personal track from 1992, "Halcyon" (dedicated to their mother's addiction to benzodiazepines). Talking of mothers, they duly reminded us to tell her "Satan" this weekend, and the band also played (of course) their outstanding crowdpleaser "Belfast". How could they not?

Pretending their set had come to an end, which prompted 'one more tune!' to resonate around the packed-out main Press Hall, they played their classic tune "Chime" which transported us right back to that Ally Pally New Year's Eve party some twenty-five years ago (which was the tune they chose to play at midnight). They ended with "Where is it Going?" from their Wonky album.

Was their time for one more tune? They looked over towards their manager, who was getting fidgety. The crowd wanted more. Phil definitely wanted more. He was loving it on stage, spinning round and fist-pumping throughout the set. He gesticulated to Paul: we still have five minutes… And then came a genuine extra song, the 1993 classic "Lush 3". What a perfect way to end a great set. And then… it was all over. Will this be the last major gig anyone will see for a while in the UK? At the time of writing this review, we don't know. If it is, it was certainly one to remember. We also met some lovely people during the night (remembering always to bump elbows instead of shake hands!) Here's one particularly fun-loving foursome we met on our travels to the smoking area.

We really want to highlight just how fantastic a venue Printworks is. It is clean, the staff are extremely friendly, water and earplugs are freely available, hygiene is of the utmost concern. The toilets were always spotless and fully stocked with toilet paper and hand gel (no mean feat given the current climate of panic-buying and subsequent shortages). The aforementioned hand sanitiser dispensers on every wall were constantly topped up throughout the two-day event. This is a well-run club, and a welcome breath of fresh air. We also want to give a special shout-out to Jack Docherty from Broadwick Live, who was the party's publicist and therefore our main port of call over the weekend festivities. We have been in this reviewing lark for many years, but when it came to providing information, helping out with everything from backstage access and hospitality to tech, we have not come across a team as professional and helpful as they were. No, we had never heard of Jack or Broadwick Live before this weekend, and they have not asked us to mention them in this review. But credit where it's due. We thank you. If we are going to be facing a long break from live gigs, we couldn't have possibly ended of a higher high than we did on Saturday 14th March 2020. Hopefully our next gig review will not be too far away. And, again hopefully, you will all stay safe out there, whatever you are doing. We knew we took a risk coming out. But, a funny thing about regret is, that it's better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you haven't done. And by the way…. Read the full article

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/united-states-of-america/intense-competition-for-2020-talent-ramps-up-in-south-carolina/

Intense competition for 2020 talent ramps up in South Carolina

If one candidate were to galvanize the black vote in South Carolina, the result could signal viability to voters and donors alike in many of the states in the Southeast that also fall early on the primary calendar.

In recent weeks, advisers for Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Cory Booker, as well as other White House aspirants, have engaged in a fierce battle for operatives in the first-in-the-South primary state. They have courted potential hires with job offers and big titles—or in Biden’s case, a promise that the wait would be worth it—as they seek to build their broader network of influencers in the state.

For the campaigns and the campaigns-in-waiting, the importance of South Carolina has meant careful tending of relationships with leaders like Rep. James E. Clyburn — the House majority whip who has pledged to remain neutral in the Democratic primary, but will still have enormous influence over the process — as well as state Rep. Jerry Govan, who is chairman of the black caucus; state Sen. Marlon Kimpson of Charleston; and state House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford.

Several sources who spoke to CNN say that top political talent in the state is being courted most heavily by three hopefuls: Booker, Harris and Biden. Biden’s political team has been making calls to South Carolina Democrats to get them on board, possibly to launch a campaign with a solid team in place.

For his part, Booker clinched two top hires in the Palmetto State who’d been pursued by multiple campaigns. Christale Spain will lead the campaign’s South Carolina efforts as state director, and Clay Middleton was tapped as a senior political adviser for Cory 2020, the campaign announced Monday.

Another talent with strong South Carolina ties, Jalisa Washington-Price, who recently left a top post at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is still being lobbied by several campaigns.

A similar hunt is brewing in Iowa, where presidential hopefuls hope to recreate a winning coalition similar to former President Barack Obama’s that launched him into an upset win in South Carolina. Elizabeth Warren created a vacuum by snapping up much of the elite talent earlier this year. Warren hired operatives from Obama’s successful 2008 Iowa caucus campaign and those responsible for more recent congressional pickups in November’s midterm election. That’s left other campaigns scrapping over whose left. Harris and Booker have named a campaign chair and state director for the Hawkeye State, respectively.

“When I tell you this race is wide open, I’m not trying to be coy — I’m being deadly serious: there are 100 ways this election could go, and right now you don’t see anyone who has put the ground game in place,” said South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson in a telephone interview Friday evening. “There’s not anyone who has that front-runner status in South Carolina right now.”

Robertson noted that for the first time—at least for as long as he’s been alive—the state will have two well-funded, well-organized black candidates competing for the Democratic nomination.

“What that means is that they are going to be campaigning to the African-American community — not taking it for granted,” Robertson said. “And then when you’ve got a state where 54.5% to 55.5% of the electorate are women—this will potentially be the first primary where women will have a choice between two, or as many as four, female candidates for the President of the United States. That makes this a completely transformative election cycle, specifically in South Carolina.”

If Biden jumps into the race, “there are going to be a lot of people who look at him positively — white and African-American voters — based on his relationship with President Obama,” Robertson said, noting that many South Carolinians remember the eulogy that Biden gave at the funeral of the late South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, as well as a his close relationship with Fritz Hollings, a former US senator and governor for the state.

“It could potentially give (Biden) a favorite son type status,” he said.

All of the candidates will want to have their operations up and running before Clyburn’s famous fish fry on May 10, a must-attend event that will be held, per tradition, on the same night as the Blue Palmetto Dinner and the same weekend as the Democratic State Party Convention.

Harris and Booker, the first two black candidates to enter the 2020 field, both visited South Carolina in January, marking their second visits since October.

The New Jersey lawmaker is set to return to South Carolina on February 10-11, on his first official trip since announcing his candidacy on Friday. He’ll come straight from a swing in Iowa.

Booker, along with 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, spoke in the capital city of Columbia on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the annual King Day at the Dome celebration.

Two days before her official launch in her birthplace of Oakland, Harris flew to South Carolina to attend the Pink Ice Gala, a fundraiser for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. As a fellow AKA, it was a savvy political move that set a marker for the early play Harris is making to consolidate the vote of black women, who are the Democratic Party’s most reliable voters.

“It’s Kamala’s race to lose. Black women voters are the key here. Kamala has these continuous connections, she’s doing the work necessary,” said Bakari Sellers, the state’s youngest-ever lawmaker and a CNN political commentator. “I don’t have much fear of Kamala losing the race, I think that it’s Kamala, Joe and Cory third.”

During a visit to the Lowcountry last October to campaign for down-ballot Democrats, Biden told voters that South Carolina would be a key part of the “battle for America’s soul” at a time when Donald Trump is in the White House. Biden, who has vacationed several times at Kiawah Island, is expected to make his decision in the coming weeks.

State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, who hosted a fundraiser for his own state Senate campaign with Biden in his Columbia home in October, said many of his friends are waiting to see what Biden will do.

“He’s sort of iced out a lot of folks that would go to Booker, Harris or anybody else that’s running,” said Harpootlian, a longtime friend of Biden and former state party chair who has joked that Biden is the state’s third senator.

Talent scramble

The assiduous courting of talent is no surprise in a state where the black vote delivered a lopsided win for former President Barack Obama in 2008 primaries, and tendered a similar victory for Hillary Clinton eight years later.

Clay Middleton, Booker’s newest senior political adviser and veteran political organizer who served as the South Carolina state director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 run, told CNN that he thinks it’s too early in the game for lawmakers and Democratic officials to be making endorsements, especially before the campaigns have made true inroads in the state.

“Unless there are individuals in the state that have deeply rooted relationships with a particular candidate, I do not see there being a wave of endorsements this early. You’ve got to organize first,” Middleton told CNN.

A top talent from the state, Jalisa Washington-Price, recently left her position at chief of staff at the DCCC after just two months — signaling that the former political director for Hillary Clinton’s South Carolina efforts is gearing up to take on a top role with a 2020 candidate.

Several sources have said Washington-Price is leaning toward joining the Harris campaign, but is still negotiating while staying in close touch with the other campaigns.

Christale Spain, now the state director for Booker’s South Carolina campaign, says this year’s recruiting came unusually early.

A founding chair of the SCDP Black Women’s Caucus Chair and the former executive director of the state party, Spain says she didn’t become the former political outreach director for the Bernie Sanders South Carolina primary campaign until September 2015. (Clinton’s staff was on the ground in April of that same year).

“There are so many candidates this cycle. Last cycle, people thought Hillary was a foregone conclusion, so they were going through the motions with her,” Spain told CNN. “Now it’s anybody’s game. You want to reach voters early and often, so the earlier you can build operations in some of these states, the better.”

Some operatives who wanted to see Biden run in 2016 have already joined other teams. Tyler Jones, who was a top strategist for Rep. Joe Cunningham’s 2018 campaign and helped him flip a red district that hadn’t gone blue in 40 years, was the state director for Draft Biden in 2016.

This year, Jones has signed on as state director for Draft Beto, which is trying to build support for a potential 2020 run by Beto O’Rourke.

The top Democrats in the state, especially those with presidential campaign experience, are also fielding lots of phone calls, including from the candidates themselves, to win them over.

“If I had to rate who’s done the most, I’d say Kamala,” Rutherford said. “Since before (Harris) announced, she has definitely been making phone calls and drumming up support. That is not just with elected officials, but with anybody that’s viewed as being important in the Democratic Party for the primary.”

The contenders and would-be candidates are also looking beyond South Carolina’s borders for influence in the South. Both Booker and Harris recently held private meetings with Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate.

All of the campaigns have also been courting Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond, an influential black lawmaker with close ties to Clyburn who recently appeared with Booker during a visit to New Orleans.

“I’m definitely planning on being involved in the race, I just haven’t made a firm commitment of who I’m going to be with,” Richmond told CNN in an interview.

“Biden and I are very close friends. He’s always been there; he’s consistent; we know he knows how to do the job,” Richmond told CNN in an interview. “I’m very confident that he could beat Trump if he got the nomination. Those are the things that are most important to me, and his policies and his experience.”

Elizabeth Warren and Sanders are also making their own plays for South Carolina voters. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is planning a trip to South Carolina in the second week of February to meet voters and local leaders.

CNN’s Rebecca Buck, Nia-Malika Henderson, Gregory Krieg, Elizabeth Landers, Dan Merica, Maeve Reston and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.

[biofunmy]

Helicopters, Cap Spikes and the Decision: The N.B.A.’s Wildest Off-Seasons

So many marquee names. So much money for teams to spend. This Sunday, starting at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, the N.B.A. could witness one of the wildest off-seasons in league history.

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers are trying to lure Kawhi Leonard out of Canada after he just led the Toronto Raptors to the championship. Kevin Durant is considering the Knicks and the Nets, as well as the Clippers, along with a return to the Golden State Warriors.

Boston’s Kyrie Irving, Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, Philadelphia’s Jimmy Butler and Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton join Leonard — plus the injured but still deeply coveted duo of Durant and Klay Thompson from the Warriors — as the headliners in a deep free-agent class. It’s a lot to track — especially with nine teams expected to have at least $30 million in salary-cap space and roughly 200 other free agents in a league that offers only 450 full-time jobs.

The forecast for considerable movement is promising, given the go-for-it sentiment that has infected numerous front offices. The league’s sudden lack of a clear-cut favorite for the first time since Golden State’s championship run began in 2015 — provided Leonard decides not to return to Toronto — invites daring and deal-making.

Just don’t forget that the bar is rather high for any summer to go down as an all-timer, thanks to the N.B.A.’s reputation for transactional bedlam. To refresh you on how competitive this category can be, here are five standout off-seasons that set the standard for chaos:

1996: The Shaq-Daddy of Them All

For all the anticipation that the July marketplace generates in the modern N.B.A., we have yet to see an off-season that can match 1996 for leaguewide madness.

The Knicks signed Allan Houston and traded for Larry Johnson. Michael Jordan re-signed with the Chicago Bulls on a one-year, $30.4 million contract — lavish compensation at the time. The Miami Heat handed out the league’s first-ever contract exceeding $100 million, to Alonzo Mourning, then saw their seven-year, $98 million contract with Juwan Howard voided by the league for violating salary cap rules, sending Howard back to Washington. In mid-August, after things had died down, Phoenix dealt Charles Barkley to Houston.

But all of that was the (deep) undercard to Shaquille O’Neal’s first foray into free agency. Jerry West, then the Los Angeles Lakers’ general manager, persuaded the representatives for Kobe Bryant, 17, to insist that their client would play abroad if he wasn’t allowed to join the Lakers. Then West also traded Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Bryant’s draft rights. That created nearly $5 million in extra salary-cap space.

On July 11, 1996, Charlotte and the Lakers finalized the Bryant trade. Seven days later, after West had created another $2 million-plus in cap space by trading Anthony Peeler and George Lynch to the Vancouver Grizzlies, O’Neal agreed to a seven-year, $120 million contract to leave Penny Hardaway and the Orlando Magic for the Lakers.

Shaq has maintained that an infamous Orlando Sentinel poll just two days before he committed to the Lakers sealed his decision to leave; 91.3 percent of more than 5,000 respondents had said he wasn’t worth a seven-year, $115 million deal. The Magic had gone 60-22 in the 1995-96 season, O’Neal’s last in Orlando. They have not won 60 games in a season since.

2003: The Helicopters

When the Golden State Warriors followed a 73-win season in 2016 by signing Kevin Durant, there was an outcry that the Warriors were ruining basketball by hoarding superstars.

Often forgotten is that a similar scenario nearly played out with the San Antonio Spurs in the summer of 2003 — except the howling was muted in an era that predated social media and the proliferation of sports TV debate shows.

The Spurs’ response to beating the Nets in the 2003 finals was to stage one of the most ornate free-agent recruiting efforts ever to try to sign the Nets’ franchise star, Jason Kidd. The Spurs put up Kidd at a fancy golf resort in San Antonio in a nod to his other favorite sport, leading to multiple sightings of news helicopters overhead.

The Nets, though, won Kidd over after he returned to New Jersey. Duncan, the All-Star big man, and Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich made a trip East to continue lobbying Kidd, but the future Hall of Fame point guard ultimately decided to stay with the team he had just led to back-to-back finals appearances.

2010: The Decision

It was a line that not only defined an off-season but that will likely follow LeBron James well beyond retirement: “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach.”

He said it as part of a widely panned television event conceived to give the best basketball player of his generation, and a native son of Akron, Ohio, an unparalleled platform to announce that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat. That James took advantage of the enormous interest in his decision to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club was largely lost as people wrote him off as egotistic and debated whether his plan, to join forces with Dwyane Wade and, later, Chris Bosh on a South Beach superteam, was an insult to the stars of the past who tried to beat their friends rather than join them.

It didn’t calm things down any that the league’s new-age Big Three, seemingly assembled by the players themselves as much as by Pat Riley, Miami’s team president, subsequently held a welcoming parade at American Airlines Arena. They came out in their uniforms, Bosh flexed and yelled, and James promised “not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven …” championships.

Significant money was doled out to Amar’e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson and David Lee, but none of the other deals that summer could compare to Miami’s machinations.

The league’s Player Power era, with James as the foremost star, was officially underway. N.B.A. off-seasons would never be the same — as James showed us again in 2014 when he left South Beach to go back home to the Cavaliers.

2016: The Cap Spike

Had the Warriors won the 2016 finals, chances are Durant never joins them. But, as any N.B.A. fan knows, they blew a 3-1 lead and lost to LeBron’s Cavaliers. Even so, Golden State also needed the good fortune of a mammoth cap spike. A huge increase in the league’s new television contract and the players’ union’s refusal to let the league infuse the money gradually hiked the salary cap by a whopping $24.1 million. That enabled the Warriors to sign a superstar they wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise — and it also led to a leaguewide spending spree that is rarely remembered fondly.

The Lakers committed $137 million to Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov. The Knicks gave $122 million to Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee. Several more questionable deals were signed, which made the major paydays to franchise stalwarts such as Mike Conley (five years, $153 million from Memphis), DeMar DeRozan (five years, $139 million from Toronto) and Bradley Beal (five years, $128 million from Washington) seem reasonable by comparison.

The Cousins signing, to many, presumably made the 2018-19 season a foregone conclusion.

But a different deal decided the season. Masai Ujiri, president of the Toronto Raptors, shocked the N.B.A. by trading away his franchise star, DeMar DeRozan, in a mid-July swap that netted Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. It seemed to be an enormous risk, with the Raptors coming off a 59-win season. Also both players Ujiri acquired were, effectively, rentals. On top of that, Leonard’s health was in doubt after he sat out nearly all of the 2017-18 season in San Antonio.

But Ujiri’s off-season dice rolls, which also included his decision to replace Coach Dwane Casey, led to Toronto’s first title. James, for the first since 2005, missed the playoffs entirely.

Sahred From Source link Sports

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[ebola-chan-love]

Ebola | The Guardian The last Ebola outbreak, in Sierra Leone, left that country with a huge debt to the IMF, for loans taken on to fight the disease, writes Frances Middleton

As a veteran door knocker with Christian Aid’s red envelopes, I was horrified to read about the worsening Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Report, 15 May). The last Ebola outbreak, in Sierra Leone, left that country with a huge debt to the IMF, for loans taken on to fight the disease. That money is still being repaid, leaving Sierra Leone’s healthcare programmes, such as they are, even worse off. In a country of 7 million people there are 130 doctors.

Sierra Leone is the focus of this year’s Christian Aid Week, aiming to fund more health clinics to reduce the number of women who die in childbirth – currently 10 a day. Part of the campaign is a petition asking the government to lobby the IMF to cancel this debt. Please sign it on the Christian Aid Week website.

Continue reading... May 16, 2019 at 07:38PM Letter

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MLB winter meetings rumors, updates: Red Sox unlikely to bring back Kimbrel; Astros interested in Brantley

Welcome to Day 2 of the 2018 winter meetings. Monday introduced some minor free-agent signings (Billy Hamilton to the Royals, Tyson Ross to the Tigers) and loads of rumors, together with a possible blockbuster. The Yankees, Mets, and Marlins are mentioned to be discussing a three-team deal that may ship J.T. Realmuto to Queens and Noah Syndergaard to The Bronx. Wowza. As at all times, a commerce of that magnitude is unlikely to be accomplished and that goes double when there is a Yankees-Mets ingredient concerned. The 2 New York groups haven’t made a player-for-player commerce because the Mike Stanton for Felix Heredia lefty reliever swap in 2004. That mentioned, new Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen has indicated a willingness to be daring, and this will surely qualify. With the 2018 winter meetings now underway at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, we’ll once more preserve you apprised of the newest scorching range information and rumblings proper right here in this helpful roundup submit. Be sure you test back typically all through the day for updates. Phillies signal McCutchen The Phillies have made their first large free-agent splash of the offseason. Tuesday afternoon the membership agreed to a three-year, $50 million contract with outfielder Andrew McCutchen. The signing doesn’t take the membership out of the working for Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, nevertheless it does unencumber a youthful participant like Nick Williams or Aaron Altherr to be used as commerce bait. We ranked McCutchen ninth on our prime 50 free brokers listing. White Sox interested in Grandal The White Sox have been making noise about making an attempt to contend in 2019, and their Monday acquisition of Ivan Nova actually backs up that notion. Now Buster Olney reviews that the Sox have some curiosity in free-agent catcher Yasmani Grandal.  Grandal, 30, is coming off maybe his finest season on the plate, as he hit 24 house runs in 140 video games and put up an OPS+ of 120 for the Dodgers. For his profession, he owns an OPS+ of 115 throughout components of seven big-league seasons. Grandal can also be a talented pitch-framer behind the plate. Proper now, the White Sox have Welington Castillo penciled in as their main catcher.  Red Sox out on Kimbrel; open to transferring Porcello, Bogaerts, Bradley With little payroll flexibility remaining, the Red Sox are all however out on Craig Kimbrel, and in truth they’re keen to listing to commerce gives for Rick Porcello, Jackie Bradley Jr., and even Xander Bogaerts in accordance to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Bob Nightengale of USA At this time. Red Sox gamers are reportedly lobbying for a reunion with free-agent reliever Joe Kelly. In the intervening time the Red Sox have $240 million on the books subsequent season in phrases of luxurious tax payroll, nicely above the $206 million threshold and above the $226 million tier that triggers extra penalties. They’re approaching the $246 million tier that triggers the hardest penalties. As a repeat offender, Boston would pay a 75 % tax on each greenback over the posh tax threshold and have their first spherical decide moved back 10 spots in the event that they go over $246 million in 2019. Porcello ($21.1 million) and Bogaerts ($11.9 million projected) will each grow to be free brokers after subsequent season. Bradley ($7.9 million projected in 2019) will not grow to be a free agent for an additional two seasons. The Red Sox have already spent large to re-sign Nathan Eovaldi, and it seems that if they need to bring back Kelly (nevermind Kimbrel), they will have to shed wage elsewhere. Astros interested in Brantley The Astros have curiosity in free-agent outfielder Michael Brantley, reviews Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The crew is considerably cautious of blocking prime outfield prospect Kyle Tucker, who made his MLB debut in 2018 and might be prepared to tackle a bigger function in 2019. That mentioned, the Astros do have openings in left discipline and DH, so it’s potential for Brantley and Tucker to coexist on the roster. Brantley, 31, rebounded from injury-filled 2016-17 seasons with a .309/.364/.468 (123 OPS+) batting line with 36 doubles and 17 house runs in 2018. Andrew McCutchen’s three-year, $50 million contract with the Phillies serves as potential framework for Brantley’s contract, although McCutchen has been way more sturdy over time, averaging 155 video games per season from 2010-18. Houston has been linked to largely pitchers this winter. Blue Jays launch Tulowitzki The Troy Tulowitzki period in Toronto has come to an finish. The Blue Jays launched Tulowitzki on Tuesday and he’s now a free agent. Toronto nonetheless owed him $38 million the following two years. Tulowitzki didn’t play in any respect in 2018 due to surgical procedure on each heels. He’s recovering and figuring out this winter, and now any crew can signal him for the pro-rated portion of the league minimal. Reds interested in Kluber, Bauer A stunning suitor has emerged for Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reviews the Reds proceed to pursue the 2 Indians hurlers in addition to different rotation choices. Cincinnati desperately wants pitching assist this offseason and so they’ve touched base with just about everybody, together with commerce candidate Sonny Grey and free agent Dallas Keuchel. The Reds have forged a large internet this winter. The Indians are anticipated to transfer Kluber or Bauer in the approaching weeks — Carlos Carrasco simply signed a team-friendly extension and figures to keep put — and the query is whether or not the Reds can meet Cleveland’s asking value. They’ve some prospects to deal however are nonetheless in one thing of a rebuild, and should not need to skinny out their expertise base. That is simply my hypothesis, however the Reds might make outfielder Jesse Winker obtainable in commerce talks. The Indians want outfield assist and the 25-year-old posted a .405 on-base share as a rookie in 2018. Blue Jays extra open to buying and selling Stroman, Sanchez With the commerce market heating up, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins indicated a willingness to pay attention to gives for Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman, reviews Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Atkins had beforehand indicated it could be powerful to half with the 2 younger right-handers. Here is what Atkins advised Davidi: “It would not by any means counsel that they are going to be traded. Removed from that,” he added. “As you begin to perceive in phrases of the discussions you are having, and gives which can be made, and even in simply speaking about comparable trades, then it begins to make extra sense to have continued discussions. The probability of these guys being moved is just not excessive. It is simply now we have to entertain if there is a manner to make the group higher.”  Stroman, 27, and Sanchez, 26, mixed to throw 207 2/Three innings with a 5.20 ERA in 2018. Stroman managed a 3.09 ERA in 201 innings as not too long ago as 2017, and, back in 2016, Sanchez had a 3.00 ERA in 192 innings. He is handled finger and hand accidents since. Each Stroman and Sanchez have two years of crew management remaining and might be reasonably priced options to commerce candidates like Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, and Noah Syndergaard.  Marlins look to add hitters The Marlins should not simply sellers this offseason. In accordance to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Marlins are “actively exploring” additions, significantly mid-range free agent place gamers. In addition they mentioned first baseman Carlos Santana with the Mariners sooner or later not too long ago. Seattle is anticipated to flip Santana sooner or later, although he has two years and $35 million remaining on his contract, and that might be an impediment. Wanting over their roster, the Marlins are set at 4 positions: catcher (J.T. Realmuto), second base (Starlin Castro), third base (Martin Prado), and proper discipline (Brian Anderson). Realmuto is after all a commerce candidate, so we should not think about Miami utterly set behind the plate. Level is, they’ve wants everywhere in the roster, and selecting up some low-cost free brokers on short-term contracts will assist the membership at the least seem interested in contending. Phillies interested in Keuchel, Britton The Phillies are interested in free brokers Dallas Keuchel and Zach Britton, and so they’re nonetheless in play for Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, reviews Bob Nightengale of USA At this time. Philadelphia needs one other beginning pitcher however got here up empty in its pursuit of Patrick Corbin, and so they’ve been mentioned to desire a nearer all winter. As for Machado and Harper, they’re been linked to these two actually since final offseason. Just a few weeks in the past Phillies proprietor John Middleton mentioned the crew is ready to “perhaps be even a bit silly” with their free-agent spending this offseason. The membership solely has $72.7 million on the books for 2019 in the mean time, not together with projected arbitration salaries, and that drops to $44.7 million in 2020 and $29.45 million in 2021. The Phillies should not tied down by dangerous contracts and are, in concept, poised for a large spending spree this winter. It simply hasn’t materialized but. Dodgers open to OF and SP trades to ‘re-shape’ payroll In an effort to “re-shape” their payroll, the Dodgers have spoken to different golf equipment about transferring two of Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, and Cody Bellinger, reviews ESPN’s Buster Olney. They’re additionally ready to transfer beginning pitchers Wealthy Hill and Alex Wooden. Los Angeles received below the $197 million luxurious tax this previous season and a discover to potential buyers mentioned they plan to do the identical the following a number of years as nicely. In the intervening time the Dodgers have $195.Four million on the books for subsequent season, together with arbitration projections, so they do not have a lot respiration room below the $206 million luxurious tax threshold. Kemp ($20 million) and Hill ($16 million) are amongst their priciest gamers whereas MLB Commerce Rumors initiatives Puig and Wooden to make one thing in the $10 million vary every subsequent 12 months. Pederson is projected at $Four million and Bellinger continues to be making shut to the league minimal as a pre-arbitration participant. Yankees might preserve Realmuto Though they’re discussing a three-team commerce with the Mets and Marlins, there’s a situation in which the Yankees preserve catcher J.T. Realmuto for themselves, reviews Joel Sherman of the New York Put up. The Yankees would have Realmuto and Gary Sanchez break up time at catcher and DH, and transfer Giancarlo Stanton into left discipline regularly. This previous season Stanton performed largely DH as a result of the Yankees had the defensively superior Aaron Decide and Brett Gardner in the outfield corners. Whereas including Realmuto would undoubtedly make the Yankees higher — Realmuto would successfully substitute backup catcher Austin Romine on the roster — including one other premium catcher can be a luxurious merchandise. New York has extra urgent wants to handle with their pitching employees and on the center infield, and so they determine to direct their sources (commerce chips, payroll area) to that relatively than one other catcher. It might be they’re making an attempt to push the three-team talks with the Mets alongside by threatening to preserve Realmuto for themselves. Happ nonetheless in search of a 3rd 12 months Free-agent left-hander J.A. Happ has a number of two-year contract gives on the desk, however he’s nonetheless in search of a 3rd 12 months, reviews Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports activities. Happ has indicated he’ll signal with the primary crew to provide a assured third 12 months. The Yankees, Phillies, Astros, and Braves are among the many groups linked to the veteran left-hander this offseason, although the Yankees and Phillies are seen because the front-runners. Happ, 36, went 7-Zero with a 2.69 ERA in 11 begins for the Yankees this previous season. He came to visit from the Blue Jays on the commerce deadline and threw 177 2/Three innings with a 3.65 ERA total in 2018. Happ began his profession with the Phillies (2007-10) and completed this previous season in New York. With Patrick Corbin and Nathan Eovaldi now off the board, a case will be made Happ is the most effective free-agent starter nonetheless in the marketplace, even over Dallas Keuchel. Yankees keen to commerce Andujar The Yankees are open to buying and selling Rookie of the Yr runner-up Miguel Andujar, in accordance to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It is unclear whether or not he can be included in the rumored J.T. Realmuto-Noah Syndergaard three-team commerce nevertheless it is smart. The Marlins are mentioned to need younger MLB prepared expertise in return for Realmuto and Andujar actually qualifies.  Andujar, 23, put up a .297/.328/.527 batting line with 27 house runs this previous season. His 47 doubles tied Fred Lynn’s AL rookie report. Andujar is a punishing hitter however a poor defender at third base, a lot in order that there are rumblings he might be moved to first as quickly as 2019. There’s been hypothesis all offseason that the Yankees might commerce Andujar for pitching and substitute him by signing Manny Machado. Brewers open to reunion with Miley In accordance to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, the Brewers are “maintaining in contact” with free-agent lefty Wade Miley. GM David Stearns mentioned they’re opening to bringing him back, although he is going to gauge his worth on the free-agent market first. Miley, 32, posted a 2.57 ERA in 80 2/Three innings with Milwaukee round an indirect harm this previous season. The Brewers, regardless of having an apparent want in their rotation, don’t appear to be in any rush to add a starter and that is been the case since final offseason. They’re at present slated to go into subsequent season with Jhoulys Chacin, Chase Anderson, Zach Davies, Brandon Woodruff, and Jimmy Nelson as their beginning 5, although Nelson is rehabbing from shoulder surgical procedure and there’s nonetheless numerous offseason to go. Nats taking a look at free brokers, speaking Roark commerce The Nationals are in commerce discussions involving right-hander Tanner Roark with a number of groups, reviews Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports activities, and so they proceed to monitor the marketplace for free-agent pitching assist as nicely. Roark will grow to be a free agent subsequent offseason and MLB Commerce Rumors initiatives him to make $9.eight million in 2019. Washington would presumably commerce the righty and redirect his wage — or at the least a part of his wage — elsewhere on the roster. Roark, 32, has been a strong league common workhorse the previous couple of years, throwing 361 2/Three innings with a 4.50 ERA (97 ERA+) the final two seasons. He averaged 176 innings per season from 2014-17 and that features 2015, when he made 12 begins and 28 aid appearances and was restricted to 111 innings. The Nationals have an expensive rotation prime three in Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, and Stephen Strasburg. There could also be a extra economical manner to fill Roark’s rotation spot by way of free company. A’s have checked in on Ramos The Athletics have checked in on free-agent catcher Wilson Ramos, reviews Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Oakland is speaking to Jonathan Lucroy a few reunion, however the two sides are far aside on cash. The A’s reportedly need to restrict their catcher funding to one 12 months as a result of prime catching prospect Sean Murphy is due to arrive quickly. Ramos, 31, authored a .306/.358/.487 batting line with 15 house runs in 111 video games round a hamstring harm this previous season. As well as to his offense, he is lengthy been considered a powerful clubhouse presence. It stands to purpose Ramos might be Plan B for groups that fail to commerce for J.T. Realmuto or signal free agent Yasmani Grandal. Getting him on a one-year contract is probably not potential. Rockies, Phillies talked Santana commerce Earlier than he was shipped to the Mariners in the Jean Segura commerce, the Rockies had discussions with the Phillies about first baseman Carlos Santana, reviews Nick Groke of The Athletic. Rockies GM Jeff Bridich mentioned buying and selling for Santana continues to be on the desk, however the calculus has modified now that he is with Seattle relatively than Philadelphia. Santana, 32, authored a .229/.352/.414 batting line with 24 house runs and extra walks (110) than strikeouts (93) for the Phillies in 2018. That is good, not nice, nevertheless it is much better than the combination .232/.314/.405 batting line and 20 house runs Colorado’s first basemen put up this 12 months whereas enjoying half their video games in Coors Area. The Rockies might put Santana at first base and shift the incumbent Ian Desmond into the outfield or a part-time function. Gonzalez plans to try comeback in 2019 In accordance to ESPN’s Buster Olney, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has improved his conditioning this offseason and is prepared to meet with any crew to talk about a comeback try in 2019. The Mets launched the 36-year-old Gonzalez on June 11 this previous season, after he hit .237/.299/.373 with six house runs in 54 video games. Accidents restricted him to solely 71 video games in 2017. Declining first basemen with harm points who’re on the incorrect facet of 35 should not precisely a scorching free-agent commodity. Gonzalez didn’t signal after being launched by the Mets this summer time and chances are high groups will not present a lot curiosity this winter both. White Sox purchase Nova The White Sox have acquired right-hander Ivan Nova from the Pirates for a younger pitcher and worldwide bonus cash. Chicago will get an reasonably priced innings eater to assist bridge the hole to their prospects whereas Pittsburgh clears some wage and clears a path for prime prospect Mitch Keller to obtain MLB enjoying time in 2019. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-winter-meetings-rumors-updates-red-sox-unlikely-to-bring-back-kimbrel-astros-interested-in-brantley/ https://www.news9ontime.com/mlb-winter-meetings-rumors-updates-red-sox-unlikely-to-bring-back-kimbrel-astros-interested-in-brantley/

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A Road Map to Shopping Like a Royal

The British royal family has long been a source of public fascination, captivating mere mortals in Britain and beyond with a passion for all things Windsor.

Toss a wedding into the mix — specifically one so storybook as the coming nuptials of Prince Harry and his American fiancée, Meghan Markle, on May 19 — and the excitement swells: Where will Meghan shop in London? Where will Harry buy her jewelry? Is there a favorite perfume, chocolate or hat-maker (which raises the question: will Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, offer her new sister-in-law, an actress and former model, a crash course in headpiece etiquette?)

Paparazzi can only capture so much. Another way to gain insight into the predilections of the royal family is by examining the brands that hold the royal warrant — the top-of-the-line British purveyors that have earned the royal family’s seal of approval.

Royal warrants, which have been issued by the British royal family since the 15th century, are a mark of distinction for companies who have provided goods and services for at least five years to Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip or Prince Charles. Suppliers range from silversmiths, champagne houses, perfumers and shoemakers to agricultural crop sprayers and biscuit brands. There are currently about 800 royal warrant holders throughout Britain.

Vetting is fierce. If approved (most applicants are not), the company snags the ultimate endorsement: the honor of displaying the royal coat of arms, along with the prestigious “by appointment” legend alongside the company logo, a practice that can be traced to the reign of Elizabeth I.

With the help of a royal warrant road map, tourists can effectively shop the royal family’s go-to brands, centuries-old companies that represent top quality, heritage and craftsmanship. A guide to the warrants offers something for everyone. The brands are not only for people who can afford to buy a $5,000 bespoke suit without batting an eye, but includes purveyors of cheese, tea, books and grooming products. The road map is an opportunity to scoop up meaningful souvenirs without spending a fortune.

Companies with the royal warrant are so well respected that at least two fashionable hotels, the Beaumont and Hotel Cafe Royal, are offering royal wedding packages that feature walking tours to some of these esteemed businesses.

While nobody can predict the shopping habits of Meghan and Harry, history suggests where they might shop — at purveyors holding the royal warrant.

Royal Grocers and Provisions Merchants Royal Tea Merchants and Grocers 181 Piccadilly London fortnumandmason.com

Founded in 1707 by Hugh Mason, a grocer, and William Fortnum, a royal footman to Queen Anne, Fortnum & Mason became a purveyor of tea and fine food credited with transforming Britain’s culinary landscape by introducing classics like the Scotch egg, a hard-boiled egg encased in sausage meat and dusted with fried breadcrumbs. In the process, they popularized the luxury picnic hamper with ready-to-eat provisions and expanding the consumption of tea beyond the aristocracy.

In the 1920s, sports, cutting edge fashion, interior design and an expedition department (Fortnum’s provisioned the first expedition to Mount Everest) were added to the mix effectively creating a department store. Since its inception, the company has served 12 monarchs with continuous royal warrants. Today, it holds two warrants;Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.

Tea and the accompanying delicacies — biscuits, preserves, specialty honey, chocolate — are still the company’s foundation. Surprisingly, a classic hamper costs less than buying products separately. The Mini Huntsman Basket (a keepsake wicker hamper filled with specialties like Assam Superb tea, rose and violet cream chocolates, marmalade and Florentine biscuits) is an excellent souvenir. Or, you can splurge on a formal afternoon tea at the storied Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon. The company archivist, Dr. Andrea Tanner, leads a Delicious History tour every second Thursday at 11 a.m.

Royal Cheesemonger 93 Jermyn Street London paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

The pungent aroma of orange-skinned, washed-rind cheese (Stinking Bishop, anyone?) is the calling card of this shop, established in 1797. Its bounty of artisanal cheeses (mostly British) supplies grand hotels, top restaurants, discerning Londoners and, of course, the palace with top drawer dairy products. Queen Victoria granted Paxton & Whitfield its first warrant as cheesemonger to the Royal Household in 1850. The brand has held onto this honor with subsequent warrants issued by King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales. New this year is an Academy of Cheese, a daylong tutorial for cheese enthusiasts. Tip: Go hungry and ask the cheese stewards for samples of esoteric products like the Fleur de Maquis, a Corsican ewe cheese encased in rosemary and juniper berries.

Royal Hospitality Services 15 Beeston Place London thegoring.com

The Goring, which is steps from Buckingham Palace, was where Kate Middleton (and her entire family) chose to spend the night before her wedding to William. It also served as the preferred perch for royalty during the coronations of George VI in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and is an unofficial luxury annex for visiting dignitaries.

In the age of minimalist, feels-like-anywhere design, as classic hotels are swallowed up by corporate behemoths, it’s inspiring to stay at a century-old property still owned and operated by the family that built it. The Goring revels in its Britishness. The Michelin-starred Dining Room (that, naturally, showcases British classics like Eggs Drumkilbo, an egg, prawn and lobster dish favored by the late Queen Mother) was designed by interiors heavyweight David Linley, nephew of Queen Elizabeth II. The grand rooms and lobby were recently refurbished by the country’s top artisans to inject a rich, undeniably feels-like-London charm; bespoke furnishings by the respected manufacturer Manborne, Fromental’s exquisite hand-gilded wallpaper, as well as colorful Gainsborough Silk wall coverings and curtains.

Instead of run-of-the-mill butlers, there are red-liveried footmen, a detail that could read as tacky if not for the splendid surroundings and royal family legacy.

In 2013, The Goring was the first and only hotel to be granted a royal warrant from Queen Elizabeth II. If you can’t afford a stay, stop in for afternoon tea (in the lounge where the Queen has held her Christmas lunch) or a cocktail in the glamorous crimson-hued bar.

Royal Hairdressers 71 St James’s St. London truefittandhill.co.uk

William Francis Truefitt started out as court wig maker to King George III, before setting up shop in 1805 to offer luxury barbery services (first wig-making and styling — a time-consuming affair), and later, haircuts to London’s gentry. The pairing of pampering hot towel wet shave with the air of a gentlemen’s club (services always came with a shoe shine) attracted high society, namely Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron, Beau Brummell, Charles Dickens, Sir Winston Churchill and the royal family.

In 1875, hair “preparations” were introduced, leading the way to shaving accessories (the old school silvertip badger hair brush, razor and stand make a stylish souvenir), fragrance and skin products, all crafted in Britain. Today, the traditional shave and other services (still complete with complimentary shoe shine) are performed by barbers nattily attired in white shirt with monogrammed waistcoat and tie. The company has had nine consecutive royal warrants and currently holds one from Prince Philip.

Royal Booksellers 187 Piccadilly London hatchards.co.uk

What began in 1797 as a literary coffee house producing political pamphlets and publications spotlighting social issues of the day is London’s oldest bookseller. The shop’s welcome-to-my townhouse charm — elegant wood paneling, tucked-away fireplaces and a wooden spiral staircase — is underscored by staff-curated tables loaded with selections from well-known and more esoteric British scribes like P.G. Wodehouse, Nancy Mitford, Evelyn Waugh, Agatha Christie and Kingsley Amis. Check the schedule for book signings; high profile artists (recently, Julian Barnes) are often on the docket.

On top of buying a book (the shop is well-known for autographed hardbacks and first editions bound in leather with decorative William Morris endpapers), bibliophiles can sign on for Hatchards’s monthly subscription service which can be delivered anywhere in the world. Hatchards gained its first royal warrant in the 18th century from Queen Charlotte, wife of George II and continues to hold all three warrants from Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Prince Charles.

Royal Purveyors of Chocolates 14 Princes Arcade London prestat.co.uk

This century-old chocolatier’s quirky heritage has amassed a cult following. The actor John Gielgud, Cher, Tina Turner and Paul McCartney have nipped in to sample pâte de fruit “fruity babes” and ginger hunks while the 19th- and early-20th-century French actress Sarah Bernhardt commissioned a specialty inverted violet crème in 1910, a Prestat classic known to have been the Queen Mother’s favorite flavor. One famous relationship was with the novelist Roald Dahl whose passion for Prestat truffles landed Prestat a starring role in his novel “My Uncle Oswald” and is said to have inspired the children’s book, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

Truffles (William and Kate served them at their wedding) are best-sellers. The boozy “Popping Pink Prosecco,” a tangy Yuzu sake and London gin (that dramatically fizzes in the mouth) are newer incarnations, while the classic Marc de Champagne (using the founder Antoine Dufour’s original recipe from 1895) is still in demand. The shop is closed for renovation and is scheduled to reopen May 14.

Royal Hatters 6 St. James’s Street London lockhatters.co.uk

Since 1676, Lock & Co. Hatters has created toppers for royals and aristocracy. The business designed the bicorne hat, the de rigueur military accouterment of the time, worn by Admiral Lord Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar, invented the bowler, popularized the fedora and tweed newsboy, and have remained the go-to for top hats (Sir Winston Churchill wore one to his wedding in 1908) through the present day. It’s still a family-run business operating from the same four-story building since 1759.

In 1993, Lock introduced women’s high fashion millinery (statement head pieces are a popular trend in Britain; the Duchess of Cambridge frequently sports Lock’s designs to formal occasions) though classic designs remain best-sellers.

As in the past, customers’ heads are measured with a Victorian-looking contraption called a conformateur; purchases come in a hand-cut, paper-and-card hatbox, a souvenir in and of itself. The firm holds two royal warrants: Prince Philip and Prince Charles. Lock partnered with the jeweler Garrard & Co, also the holder of a royal warrant, to fit George IV’s crown to Queen Elizabeth II’s head for her 1953 coronation, relining the interior with ermine and purple velvet.

Royal Livery Tailors 15 Savile Row London henrypoole.com

A military tailoring outfit begun during the Napoleonic Wars evolved into the court tailor to Queen Victoria in 1869, producing the palace’s livery, or official uniform. After meeting and then outfitting Queen Victoria’s son, the Prince of Wales (known as Bertie), Poole’s popularity soared.

This relationship produced modern black-tie dress. In 1865, tired of fussy white-tie evening dress with coattails, the fashionable Bertie asked Poole to design a more informal ensemble — “a short silk smoking jacket with silk collar and cuffs, lined silk; a pair of trousers to match” — for entertaining at his country home in Sandringham. This look would later come to be known as the tuxedo.

Poole was also Savile Row’s founding tailor. The firm’s bespoke suiting (the process requires three fittings and between 80 to 120 hours of hand stitching) attracted an international clientele, Czar Alexander II of Russia, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, J.P. Morgan, William Randolph Hearst, Frank Lloyd Wright, among others. The merchant has served each monarch since Queen Victoria which has translated into Poole’s livery and other garments being worn at every coronation, jubilee and royal wedding since the merchant was issued the first warrant in 1869. Sartorial buffs can book a visit to the archive room where leather-bound books detailing every client since 1846 are stored.

Royal Perfumers Royal Manufacturers of Toilet Preparations 89 Jermyn Street, St. James’s London florislondon.com

Floris is an independent, family-run business, and operates from the Jermyn Street premises where it was founded in 1730. Originally a barber, but also trained in perfumery, Juan Famenias Floris introduced a zesty lime unisex fragrance in the late 18th century that became an instant hit, offering both an uplifting perfume and an olfactory tool to combat the stench of London’s sewage-strewn streets. Soon, classic floral scents — rose, lily of the valley, violet, stephanotis — were sold alongside grooming products, bespoke fragrances concocted for wealthy clients in the shop’s cellar. While most royal warrant holders are hush-hush about their customers, Floris has a small museum in the back of the shop with letters and archived receipts from various palaces and high-wattage clientele like Sir Winston Churchill (Special No. 127 and Stephanotis, both of which are still available), Ian Fleming (No. 89; Fleming also mentions Floris in the James Bond novels “Moonraker,” “Diamonds are Forever” and “Dr. No,” Marilyn Monroe (Rose Geranium) and Queen Elizabeth II. Floris received its first royal warrant from King George IV in 1820.

Royal Jewellers, Goldsmiths and Silversmiths 24 Albemarle Street London garrard.com

Established in 1735, The House of Garrard, which also functioned as silversmiths, received its first royal commission from Frederick, Prince of Wales (a black ebony teapot handle) that same year. Queen Victoria appointed Garrard as Crown Jewelers in 1843 and the house has served every monarch since then, crafting five crowns (still worn for state occasions) which can be viewed at the Tower of London Jewel House, a dazzling exhibit of royal regalia, including the Crown Jewels, where tourists are transported through displays by way of a moving walkway).

On top of countless royal commissions, Garrard is known for exquisite tiaras, including the Cambridge Lover’s Knot, a headpiece of 19 diamond-encrusted arches framing large drop-shaped pearls that has been passed down from Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth II and lent to Princess Diana, and recently worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, in addition to the “Girls of Britain and Ireland tiara,” the spiky diadem with a band of round and lozenge-shaped diamonds frequently worn by Queen Elizabeth II and featured on British bank notes.

Today’s collections are understated, inspired by regal heritage but designed for contemporary life. You can visit the Queen Mary salon upstairs (by appointment) to view paintings of the royal crowns and try on a few imitation tiaras from the royal collection.

Amy Tara Koch, based in Chicago, writes about travel, style, food and parenting.

The post A Road Map to Shopping Like a Royal appeared first on World The News.

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A Road Map to Shopping Like a Royal

The British royal family has long been a source of public fascination, captivating mere mortals in Britain and beyond with a passion for all things Windsor.

Toss a wedding into the mix — specifically one so storybook as the coming nuptials of Prince Harry and his American fiancée, Meghan Markle, on May 19 — and the excitement swells: Where will Meghan shop in London? Where will Harry buy her jewelry? Is there a favorite perfume, chocolate or hat-maker (which raises the question: will Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, offer her new sister-in-law, an actress and former model, a crash course in headpiece etiquette?)

Paparazzi can only capture so much. Another way to gain insight into the predilections of the royal family is by examining the brands that hold the royal warrant — the top-of-the-line British purveyors that have earned the royal family’s seal of approval.

Royal warrants, which have been issued by the British royal family since the 15th century, are a mark of distinction for companies who have provided goods and services for at least five years to Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip or Prince Charles. Suppliers range from silversmiths, champagne houses, perfumers and shoemakers to agricultural crop sprayers and biscuit brands. There are currently about 800 royal warrant holders throughout Britain.

Vetting is fierce. If approved (most applicants are not), the company snags the ultimate endorsement: the honor of displaying the royal coat of arms, along with the prestigious “by appointment” legend alongside the company logo, a practice that can be traced to the reign of Elizabeth I.

With the help of a royal warrant road map, tourists can effectively shop the royal family’s go-to brands, centuries-old companies that represent top quality, heritage and craftsmanship. A guide to the warrants offers something for everyone. The brands are not only for people who can afford to buy a $5,000 bespoke suit without batting an eye, but includes purveyors of cheese, tea, books and grooming products. The road map is an opportunity to scoop up meaningful souvenirs without spending a fortune.

Companies with the royal warrant are so well respected that at least two fashionable hotels, the Beaumont and Hotel Cafe Royal, are offering royal wedding packages that feature walking tours to some of these esteemed businesses.

While nobody can predict the shopping habits of Meghan and Harry, history suggests where they might shop — at purveyors holding the royal warrant.

Royal Grocers and Provisions Merchants Royal Tea Merchants and Grocers 181 Piccadilly London fortnumandmason.com

Founded in 1707 by Hugh Mason, a grocer, and William Fortnum, a royal footman to Queen Anne, Fortnum & Mason became a purveyor of tea and fine food credited with transforming Britain’s culinary landscape by introducing classics like the Scotch egg, a hard-boiled egg encased in sausage meat and dusted with fried breadcrumbs. In the process, they popularized the luxury picnic hamper with ready-to-eat provisions and expanding the consumption of tea beyond the aristocracy.

In the 1920s, sports, cutting edge fashion, interior design and an expedition department (Fortnum’s provisioned the first expedition to Mount Everest) were added to the mix effectively creating a department store. Since its inception, the company has served 12 monarchs with continuous royal warrants. Today, it holds two warrants;Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.

Tea and the accompanying delicacies — biscuits, preserves, specialty honey, chocolate — are still the company’s foundation. Surprisingly, a classic hamper costs less than buying products separately. The Mini Huntsman Basket (a keepsake wicker hamper filled with specialties like Assam Superb tea, rose and violet cream chocolates, marmalade and Florentine biscuits) is an excellent souvenir. Or, you can splurge on a formal afternoon tea at the storied Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon. The company archivist, Dr. Andrea Tanner, leads a Delicious History tour every second Thursday at 11 a.m.

Royal Cheesemonger 93 Jermyn Street London paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

The pungent aroma of orange-skinned, washed-rind cheese (Stinking Bishop, anyone?) is the calling card of this shop, established in 1797. Its bounty of artisanal cheeses (mostly British) supplies grand hotels, top restaurants, discerning Londoners and, of course, the palace with top drawer dairy products. Queen Victoria granted Paxton & Whitfield its first warrant as cheesemonger to the Royal Household in 1850. The brand has held onto this honor with subsequent warrants issued by King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales. New this year is an Academy of Cheese, a daylong tutorial for cheese enthusiasts. Tip: Go hungry and ask the cheese stewards for samples of esoteric products like the Fleur de Maquis, a Corsican ewe cheese encased in rosemary and juniper berries.

Royal Hospitality Services 15 Beeston Place London thegoring.com

The Goring, which is steps from Buckingham Palace, was where Kate Middleton (and her entire family) chose to spend the night before her wedding to William. It also served as the preferred perch for royalty during the coronations of George VI in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and is an unofficial luxury annex for visiting dignitaries.

In the age of minimalist, feels-like-anywhere design, as classic hotels are swallowed up by corporate behemoths, it’s inspiring to stay at a century-old property still owned and operated by the family that built it. The Goring revels in its Britishness. The Michelin-starred Dining Room (that, naturally, showcases British classics like Eggs Drumkilbo, an egg, prawn and lobster dish favored by the late Queen Mother) was designed by interiors heavyweight David Linley, nephew of Queen Elizabeth II. The grand rooms and lobby were recently refurbished by the country’s top artisans to inject a rich, undeniably feels-like-London charm; bespoke furnishings by the respected manufacturer Manborne, Fromental’s exquisite hand-gilded wallpaper, as well as colorful Gainsborough Silk wall coverings and curtains.

Instead of run-of-the-mill butlers, there are red-liveried footmen, a detail that could read as tacky if not for the splendid surroundings and royal family legacy.

In 2013, The Goring was the first and only hotel to be granted a royal warrant from Queen Elizabeth II. If you can’t afford a stay, stop in for afternoon tea (in the lounge where the Queen has held her Christmas lunch) or a cocktail in the glamorous crimson-hued bar.

Royal Hairdressers 71 St James’s St. London truefittandhill.co.uk

William Francis Truefitt started out as court wig maker to King George III, before setting up shop in 1805 to offer luxury barbery services (first wig-making and styling — a time-consuming affair), and later, haircuts to London’s gentry. The pairing of pampering hot towel wet shave with the air of a gentlemen’s club (services always came with a shoe shine) attracted high society, namely Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron, Beau Brummell, Charles Dickens, Sir Winston Churchill and the royal family.

In 1875, hair “preparations” were introduced, leading the way to shaving accessories (the old school silvertip badger hair brush, razor and stand make a stylish souvenir), fragrance and skin products, all crafted in Britain. Today, the traditional shave and other services (still complete with complimentary shoe shine) are performed by barbers nattily attired in white shirt with monogrammed waistcoat and tie. The company has had nine consecutive royal warrants and currently holds one from Prince Philip.

Royal Booksellers 187 Piccadilly London hatchards.co.uk

What began in 1797 as a literary coffee house producing political pamphlets and publications spotlighting social issues of the day is London’s oldest bookseller. The shop’s welcome-to-my townhouse charm — elegant wood paneling, tucked-away fireplaces and a wooden spiral staircase — is underscored by staff-curated tables loaded with selections from well-known and more esoteric British scribes like P.G. Wodehouse, Nancy Mitford, Evelyn Waugh, Agatha Christie and Kingsley Amis. Check the schedule for book signings; high profile artists (recently, Julian Barnes) are often on the docket.

On top of buying a book (the shop is well-known for autographed hardbacks and first editions bound in leather with decorative William Morris endpapers), bibliophiles can sign on for Hatchards’s monthly subscription service which can be delivered anywhere in the world. Hatchards gained its first royal warrant in the 18th century from Queen Charlotte, wife of George II and continues to hold all three warrants from Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Prince Charles.

Royal Purveyors of Chocolates 14 Princes Arcade London prestat.co.uk

This century-old chocolatier’s quirky heritage has amassed a cult following. The actor John Gielgud, Cher, Tina Turner and Paul McCartney have nipped in to sample pâte de fruit “fruity babes” and ginger hunks while the 19th- and early-20th-century French actress Sarah Bernhardt commissioned a specialty inverted violet crème in 1910, a Prestat classic known to have been the Queen Mother’s favorite flavor. One famous relationship was with the novelist Roald Dahl whose passion for Prestat truffles landed Prestat a starring role in his novel “My Uncle Oswald” and is said to have inspired the children’s book, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

Truffles (William and Kate served them at their wedding) are best-sellers. The boozy “Popping Pink Prosecco,” a tangy Yuzu sake and London gin (that dramatically fizzes in the mouth) are newer incarnations, while the classic Marc de Champagne (using the founder Antoine Dufour’s original recipe from 1895) is still in demand. The shop is closed for renovation and is scheduled to reopen May 14.

Royal Hatters 6 St. James’s Street London lockhatters.co.uk

Since 1676, Lock & Co. Hatters has created toppers for royals and aristocracy. The business designed the bicorne hat, the de rigueur military accouterment of the time, worn by Admiral Lord Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar, invented the bowler, popularized the fedora and tweed newsboy, and have remained the go-to for top hats (Sir Winston Churchill wore one to his wedding in 1908) through the present day. It’s still a family-run business operating from the same four-story building since 1759.

In 1993, Lock introduced women��s high fashion millinery (statement head pieces are a popular trend in Britain; the Duchess of Cambridge frequently sports Lock’s designs to formal occasions) though classic designs remain best-sellers.

As in the past, customers’ heads are measured with a Victorian-looking contraption called a conformateur; purchases come in a hand-cut, paper-and-card hatbox, a souvenir in and of itself. The firm holds two royal warrants: Prince Philip and Prince Charles. Lock partnered with the jeweler Garrard & Co, also the holder of a royal warrant, to fit George IV’s crown to Queen Elizabeth II’s head for her 1953 coronation, relining the interior with ermine and purple velvet.

Royal Livery Tailors 15 Savile Row London henrypoole.com

A military tailoring outfit begun during the Napoleonic Wars evolved into the court tailor to Queen Victoria in 1869, producing the palace’s livery, or official uniform. After meeting and then outfitting Queen Victoria’s son, the Prince of Wales (known as Bertie), Poole’s popularity soared.

This relationship produced modern black-tie dress. In 1865, tired of fussy white-tie evening dress with coattails, the fashionable Bertie asked Poole to design a more informal ensemble — “a short silk smoking jacket with silk collar and cuffs, lined silk; a pair of trousers to match” — for entertaining at his country home in Sandringham. This look would later come to be known as the tuxedo.

Poole was also Savile Row’s founding tailor. The firm’s bespoke suiting (the process requires three fittings and between 80 to 120 hours of hand stitching) attracted an international clientele, Czar Alexander II of Russia, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, J.P. Morgan, William Randolph Hearst, Frank Lloyd Wright, among others. The merchant has served each monarch since Queen Victoria which has translated into Poole’s livery and other garments being worn at every coronation, jubilee and royal wedding since the merchant was issued the first warrant in 1869. Sartorial buffs can book a visit to the archive room where leather-bound books detailing every client since 1846 are stored.

Royal Perfumers Royal Manufacturers of Toilet Preparations 89 Jermyn Street, St. James’s London florislondon.com

Floris is an independent, family-run business, and operates from the Jermyn Street premises where it was founded in 1730. Originally a barber, but also trained in perfumery, Juan Famenias Floris introduced a zesty lime unisex fragrance in the late 18th century that became an instant hit, offering both an uplifting perfume and an olfactory tool to combat the stench of London’s sewage-strewn streets. Soon, classic floral scents — rose, lily of the valley, violet, stephanotis — were sold alongside grooming products, bespoke fragrances concocted for wealthy clients in the shop’s cellar. While most royal warrant holders are hush-hush about their customers, Floris has a small museum in the back of the shop with letters and archived receipts from various palaces and high-wattage clientele like Sir Winston Churchill (Special No. 127 and Stephanotis, both of which are still available), Ian Fleming (No. 89; Fleming also mentions Floris in the James Bond novels “Moonraker,” “Diamonds are Forever” and “Dr. No,” Marilyn Monroe (Rose Geranium) and Queen Elizabeth II. Floris received its first royal warrant from King George IV in 1820.

Royal Jewellers, Goldsmiths and Silversmiths 24 Albemarle Street London garrard.com

Established in 1735, The House of Garrard, which also functioned as silversmiths, received its first royal commission from Frederick, Prince of Wales (a black ebony teapot handle) that same year. Queen Victoria appointed Garrard as Crown Jewelers in 1843 and the house has served every monarch since then, crafting five crowns (still worn for state occasions) which can be viewed at the Tower of London Jewel House, a dazzling exhibit of royal regalia, including the Crown Jewels, where tourists are transported through displays by way of a moving walkway).

On top of countless royal commissions, Garrard is known for exquisite tiaras, including the Cambridge Lover’s Knot, a headpiece of 19 diamond-encrusted arches framing large drop-shaped pearls that has been passed down from Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth II and lent to Princess Diana, and recently worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, in addition to the “Girls of Britain and Ireland tiara,” the spiky diadem with a band of round and lozenge-shaped diamonds frequently worn by Queen Elizabeth II and featured on British bank notes.

Today’s collections are understated, inspired by regal heritage but designed for contemporary life. You can visit the Queen Mary salon upstairs (by appointment) to view paintings of the royal crowns and try on a few imitation tiaras from the royal collection.

Amy Tara Koch, based in Chicago, writes about travel, style, food and parenting.

The post A Road Map to Shopping Like a Royal appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2I1NQFH via News of World

[dani-qrt]

A Road Map to Shopping Like a Royal

The British royal family has long been a source of public fascination, captivating mere mortals in Britain and beyond with a passion for all things Windsor.

Toss a wedding into the mix — specifically one so storybook as the coming nuptials of Prince Harry and his American fiancée, Meghan Markle, on May 19 — and the excitement swells: Where will Meghan shop in London? Where will Harry buy her jewelry? Is there a favorite perfume, chocolate or hat-maker (which raises the question: will Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, offer her new sister-in-law, an actress and former model, a crash course in headpiece etiquette?)

Paparazzi can only capture so much. Another way to gain insight into the predilections of the royal family is by examining the brands that hold the royal warrant — the top-of-the-line British purveyors that have earned the royal family’s seal of approval.

Royal warrants, which have been issued by the British royal family since the 15th century, are a mark of distinction for companies who have provided goods and services for at least five years to Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip or Prince Charles. Suppliers range from silversmiths, champagne houses, perfumers and shoemakers to agricultural crop sprayers and biscuit brands. There are currently about 800 royal warrant holders throughout Britain.

Vetting is fierce. If approved (most applicants are not), the company snags the ultimate endorsement: the honor of displaying the royal coat of arms, along with the prestigious “by appointment” legend alongside the company logo, a practice that can be traced to the reign of Elizabeth I.

With the help of a royal warrant road map, tourists can effectively shop the royal family’s go-to brands, centuries-old companies that represent top quality, heritage and craftsmanship. A guide to the warrants offers something for everyone. The brands are not only for people who can afford to buy a $5,000 bespoke suit without batting an eye, but includes purveyors of cheese, tea, books and grooming products. The road map is an opportunity to scoop up meaningful souvenirs without spending a fortune.

Companies with the royal warrant are so well respected that at least two fashionable hotels, the Beaumont and Hotel Cafe Royal, are offering royal wedding packages that feature walking tours to some of these esteemed businesses.

While nobody can predict the shopping habits of Meghan and Harry, history suggests where they might shop — at purveyors holding the royal warrant.

Royal Grocers and Provisions Merchants Royal Tea Merchants and Grocers 181 Piccadilly London fortnumandmason.com

Founded in 1707 by Hugh Mason, a grocer, and William Fortnum, a royal footman to Queen Anne, Fortnum & Mason became a purveyor of tea and fine food credited with transforming Britain’s culinary landscape by introducing classics like the Scotch egg, a hard-boiled egg encased in sausage meat and dusted with fried breadcrumbs. In the process, they popularized the luxury picnic hamper with ready-to-eat provisions and expanding the consumption of tea beyond the aristocracy.

In the 1920s, sports, cutting edge fashion, interior design and an expedition department (Fortnum’s provisioned the first expedition to Mount Everest) were added to the mix effectively creating a department store. Since its inception, the company has served 12 monarchs with continuous royal warrants. Today, it holds two warrants;Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.

Tea and the accompanying delicacies — biscuits, preserves, specialty honey, chocolate — are still the company’s foundation. Surprisingly, a classic hamper costs less than buying products separately. The Mini Huntsman Basket (a keepsake wicker hamper filled with specialties like Assam Superb tea, rose and violet cream chocolates, marmalade and Florentine biscuits) is an excellent souvenir. Or, you can splurge on a formal afternoon tea at the storied Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon. The company archivist, Dr. Andrea Tanner, leads a Delicious History tour every second Thursday at 11 a.m.

Royal Cheesemonger 93 Jermyn Street London paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

The pungent aroma of orange-skinned, washed-rind cheese (Stinking Bishop, anyone?) is the calling card of this shop, established in 1797. Its bounty of artisanal cheeses (mostly British) supplies grand hotels, top restaurants, discerning Londoners and, of course, the palace with top drawer dairy products. Queen Victoria granted Paxton & Whitfield its first warrant as cheesemonger to the Royal Household in 1850. The brand has held onto this honor with subsequent warrants issued by King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales. New this year is an Academy of Cheese, a daylong tutorial for cheese enthusiasts. Tip: Go hungry and ask the cheese stewards for samples of esoteric products like the Fleur de Maquis, a Corsican ewe cheese encased in rosemary and juniper berries.

Royal Hospitality Services 15 Beeston Place London thegoring.com

The Goring, which is steps from Buckingham Palace, was where Kate Middleton (and her entire family) chose to spend the night before her wedding to William. It also served as the preferred perch for royalty during the coronations of George VI in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and is an unofficial luxury annex for visiting dignitaries.

In the age of minimalist, feels-like-anywhere design, as classic hotels are swallowed up by corporate behemoths, it’s inspiring to stay at a century-old property still owned and operated by the family that built it. The Goring revels in its Britishness. The Michelin-starred Dining Room (that, naturally, showcases British classics like Eggs Drumkilbo, an egg, prawn and lobster dish favored by the late Queen Mother) was designed by interiors heavyweight David Linley, nephew of Queen Elizabeth II. The grand rooms and lobby were recently refurbished by the country’s top artisans to inject a rich, undeniably feels-like-London charm; bespoke furnishings by the respected manufacturer Manborne, Fromental’s exquisite hand-gilded wallpaper, as well as colorful Gainsborough Silk wall coverings and curtains.

Instead of run-of-the-mill butlers, there are red-liveried footmen, a detail that could read as tacky if not for the splendid surroundings and royal family legacy.

In 2013, The Goring was the first and only hotel to be granted a royal warrant from Queen Elizabeth II. If you can’t afford a stay, stop in for afternoon tea (in the lounge where the Queen has held her Christmas lunch) or a cocktail in the glamorous crimson-hued bar.

Royal Hairdressers 71 St James’s St. London truefittandhill.co.uk

William Francis Truefitt started out as court wig maker to King George III, before setting up shop in 1805 to offer luxury barbery services (first wig-making and styling — a time-consuming affair), and later, haircuts to London’s gentry. The pairing of pampering hot towel wet shave with the air of a gentlemen’s club (services always came with a shoe shine) attracted high society, namely Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron, Beau Brummell, Charles Dickens, Sir Winston Churchill and the royal family.

In 1875, hair “preparations” were introduced, leading the way to shaving accessories (the old school silvertip badger hair brush, razor and stand make a stylish souvenir), fragrance and skin products, all crafted in Britain. Today, the traditional shave and other services (still complete with complimentary shoe shine) are performed by barbers nattily attired in white shirt with monogrammed waistcoat and tie. The company has had nine consecutive royal warrants and currently holds one from Prince Philip.

Royal Booksellers 187 Piccadilly London hatchards.co.uk

What began in 1797 as a literary coffee house producing political pamphlets and publications spotlighting social issues of the day is London’s oldest bookseller. The shop’s welcome-to-my townhouse charm — elegant wood paneling, tucked-away fireplaces and a wooden spiral staircase — is underscored by staff-curated tables loaded with selections from well-known and more esoteric British scribes like P.G. Wodehouse, Nancy Mitford, Evelyn Waugh, Agatha Christie and Kingsley Amis. Check the schedule for book signings; high profile artists (recently, Julian Barnes) are often on the docket.

On top of buying a book (the shop is well-known for autographed hardbacks and first editions bound in leather with decorative William Morris endpapers), bibliophiles can sign on for Hatchards’s monthly subscription service which can be delivered anywhere in the world. Hatchards gained its first royal warrant in the 18th century from Queen Charlotte, wife of George II and continues to hold all three warrants from Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Prince Charles.

Royal Purveyors of Chocolates 14 Princes Arcade London prestat.co.uk

This century-old chocolatier’s quirky heritage has amassed a cult following. The actor John Gielgud, Cher, Tina Turner and Paul McCartney have nipped in to sample pâte de fruit “fruity babes” and ginger hunks while the 19th- and early-20th-century French actress Sarah Bernhardt commissioned a specialty inverted violet crème in 1910, a Prestat classic known to have been the Queen Mother’s favorite flavor. One famous relationship was with the novelist Roald Dahl whose passion for Prestat truffles landed Prestat a starring role in his novel “My Uncle Oswald” and is said to have inspired the children’s book, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

Truffles (William and Kate served them at their wedding) are best-sellers. The boozy “Popping Pink Prosecco,” a tangy Yuzu sake and London gin (that dramatically fizzes in the mouth) are newer incarnations, while the classic Marc de Champagne (using the founder Antoine Dufour’s original recipe from 1895) is still in demand. The shop is closed for renovation and is scheduled to reopen May 14.

Royal Hatters 6 St. James’s Street London lockhatters.co.uk

Since 1676, Lock & Co. Hatters has created toppers for royals and aristocracy. The business designed the bicorne hat, the de rigueur military accouterment of the time, worn by Admiral Lord Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar, invented the bowler, popularized the fedora and tweed newsboy, and have remained the go-to for top hats (Sir Winston Churchill wore one to his wedding in 1908) through the present day. It’s still a family-run business operating from the same four-story building since 1759.

In 1993, Lock introduced women’s high fashion millinery (statement head pieces are a popular trend in Britain; the Duchess of Cambridge frequently sports Lock’s designs to formal occasions) though classic designs remain best-sellers.

As in the past, customers’ heads are measured with a Victorian-looking contraption called a conformateur; purchases come in a hand-cut, paper-and-card hatbox, a souvenir in and of itself. The firm holds two royal warrants: Prince Philip and Prince Charles. Lock partnered with the jeweler Garrard & Co, also the holder of a royal warrant, to fit George IV’s crown to Queen Elizabeth II’s head for her 1953 coronation, relining the interior with ermine and purple velvet.

Royal Livery Tailors 15 Savile Row London henrypoole.com

A military tailoring outfit begun during the Napoleonic Wars evolved into the court tailor to Queen Victoria in 1869, producing the palace’s livery, or official uniform. After meeting and then outfitting Queen Victoria’s son, the Prince of Wales (known as Bertie), Poole’s popularity soared.

This relationship produced modern black-tie dress. In 1865, tired of fussy white-tie evening dress with coattails, the fashionable Bertie asked Poole to design a more informal ensemble — “a short silk smoking jacket with silk collar and cuffs, lined silk; a pair of trousers to match” — for entertaining at his country home in Sandringham. This look would later come to be known as the tuxedo.

Poole was also Savile Row’s founding tailor. The firm’s bespoke suiting (the process requires three fittings and between 80 to 120 hours of hand stitching) attracted an international clientele, Czar Alexander II of Russia, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, J.P. Morgan, William Randolph Hearst, Frank Lloyd Wright, among others. The merchant has served each monarch since Queen Victoria which has translated into Poole’s livery and other garments being worn at every coronation, jubilee and royal wedding since the merchant was issued the first warrant in 1869. Sartorial buffs can book a visit to the archive room where leather-bound books detailing every client since 1846 are stored.

Royal Perfumers Royal Manufacturers of Toilet Preparations 89 Jermyn Street, St. James’s London florislondon.com

Floris is an independent, family-run business, and operates from the Jermyn Street premises where it was founded in 1730. Originally a barber, but also trained in perfumery, Juan Famenias Floris introduced a zesty lime unisex fragrance in the late 18th century that became an instant hit, offering both an uplifting perfume and an olfactory tool to combat the stench of London’s sewage-strewn streets. Soon, classic floral scents — rose, lily of the valley, violet, stephanotis — were sold alongside grooming products, bespoke fragrances concocted for wealthy clients in the shop’s cellar. While most royal warrant holders are hush-hush about their customers, Floris has a small museum in the back of the shop with letters and archived receipts from various palaces and high-wattage clientele like Sir Winston Churchill (Special No. 127 and Stephanotis, both of which are still available), Ian Fleming (No. 89; Fleming also mentions Floris in the James Bond novels “Moonraker,” “Diamonds are Forever” and “Dr. No,” Marilyn Monroe (Rose Geranium) and Queen Elizabeth II. Floris received its first royal warrant from King George IV in 1820.

Royal Jewellers, Goldsmiths and Silversmiths 24 Albemarle Street London garrard.com

Established in 1735, The House of Garrard, which also functioned as silversmiths, received its first royal commission from Frederick, Prince of Wales (a black ebony teapot handle) that same year. Queen Victoria appointed Garrard as Crown Jewelers in 1843 and the house has served every monarch since then, crafting five crowns (still worn for state occasions) which can be viewed at the Tower of London Jewel House, a dazzling exhibit of royal regalia, including the Crown Jewels, where tourists are transported through displays by way of a moving walkway).

On top of countless royal commissions, Garrard is known for exquisite tiaras, including the Cambridge Lover’s Knot, a headpiece of 19 diamond-encrusted arches framing large drop-shaped pearls that has been passed down from Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth II and lent to Princess Diana, and recently worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, in addition to the “Girls of Britain and Ireland tiara,” the spiky diadem with a band of round and lozenge-shaped diamonds frequently worn by Queen Elizabeth II and featured on British bank notes.

Today’s collections are understated, inspired by regal heritage but designed for contemporary life. You can visit the Queen Mary salon upstairs (by appointment) to view paintings of the royal crowns and try on a few imitation tiaras from the royal collection.

Amy Tara Koch, based in Chicago, writes about travel, style, food and parenting.

The post A Road Map to Shopping Like a Royal appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2I1NQFH via Online News

[newestbalance]

A Road Map to Shopping Like a Royal

The British royal family has long been a source of public fascination, captivating mere mortals in Britain and beyond with a passion for all things Windsor.

Toss a wedding into the mix — specifically one so storybook as the coming nuptials of Prince Harry and his American fiancée, Meghan Markle, on May 19 — and the excitement swells: Where will Meghan shop in London? Where will Harry buy her jewelry? Is there a favorite perfume, chocolate or hat-maker (which raises the question: will Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, offer her new sister-in-law, an actress and former model, a crash course in headpiece etiquette?)

Paparazzi can only capture so much. Another way to gain insight into the predilections of the royal family is by examining the brands that hold the royal warrant — the top-of-the-line British purveyors that have earned the royal family’s seal of approval.

Royal warrants, which have been issued by the British royal family since the 15th century, are a mark of distinction for companies who have provided goods and services for at least five years to Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip or Prince Charles. Suppliers range from silversmiths, champagne houses, perfumers and shoemakers to agricultural crop sprayers and biscuit brands. There are currently about 800 royal warrant holders throughout Britain.

Vetting is fierce. If approved (most applicants are not), the company snags the ultimate endorsement: the honor of displaying the royal coat of arms, along with the prestigious “by appointment” legend alongside the company logo, a practice that can be traced to the reign of Elizabeth I.

With the help of a royal warrant road map, tourists can effectively shop the royal family’s go-to brands, centuries-old companies that represent top quality, heritage and craftsmanship. A guide to the warrants offers something for everyone. The brands are not only for people who can afford to buy a $5,000 bespoke suit without batting an eye, but includes purveyors of cheese, tea, books and grooming products. The road map is an opportunity to scoop up meaningful souvenirs without spending a fortune.

Companies with the royal warrant are so well respected that at least two fashionable hotels, the Beaumont and Hotel Cafe Royal, are offering royal wedding packages that feature walking tours to some of these esteemed businesses.

While nobody can predict the shopping habits of Meghan and Harry, history suggests where they might shop — at purveyors holding the royal warrant.

Royal Grocers and Provisions Merchants Royal Tea Merchants and Grocers 181 Piccadilly London fortnumandmason.com

Founded in 1707 by Hugh Mason, a grocer, and William Fortnum, a royal footman to Queen Anne, Fortnum & Mason became a purveyor of tea and fine food credited with transforming Britain’s culinary landscape by introducing classics like the Scotch egg, a hard-boiled egg encased in sausage meat and dusted with fried breadcrumbs. In the process, they popularized the luxury picnic hamper with ready-to-eat provisions and expanding the consumption of tea beyond the aristocracy.

In the 1920s, sports, cutting edge fashion, interior design and an expedition department (Fortnum’s provisioned the first expedition to Mount Everest) were added to the mix effectively creating a department store. Since its inception, the company has served 12 monarchs with continuous royal warrants. Today, it holds two warrants;Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.

Tea and the accompanying delicacies — biscuits, preserves, specialty honey, chocolate — are still the company’s foundation. Surprisingly, a classic hamper costs less than buying products separately. The Mini Huntsman Basket (a keepsake wicker hamper filled with specialties like Assam Superb tea, rose and violet cream chocolates, marmalade and Florentine biscuits) is an excellent souvenir. Or, you can splurge on a formal afternoon tea at the storied Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon. The company archivist, Dr. Andrea Tanner, leads a Delicious History tour every second Thursday at 11 a.m.

Royal Cheesemonger 93 Jermyn Street London paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

The pungent aroma of orange-skinned, washed-rind cheese (Stinking Bishop, anyone?) is the calling card of this shop, established in 1797. Its bounty of artisanal cheeses (mostly British) supplies grand hotels, top restaurants, discerning Londoners and, of course, the palace with top drawer dairy products. Queen Victoria granted Paxton & Whitfield its first warrant as cheesemonger to the Royal Household in 1850. The brand has held onto this honor with subsequent warrants issued by King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales. New this year is an Academy of Cheese, a daylong tutorial for cheese enthusiasts. Tip: Go hungry and ask the cheese stewards for samples of esoteric products like the Fleur de Maquis, a Corsican ewe cheese encased in rosemary and juniper berries.

Royal Hospitality Services 15 Beeston Place London thegoring.com

The Goring, which is steps from Buckingham Palace, was where Kate Middleton (and her entire family) chose to spend the night before her wedding to William. It also served as the preferred perch for royalty during the coronations of George VI in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and is an unofficial luxury annex for visiting dignitaries.

In the age of minimalist, feels-like-anywhere design, as classic hotels are swallowed up by corporate behemoths, it’s inspiring to stay at a century-old property still owned and operated by the family that built it. The Goring revels in its Britishness. The Michelin-starred Dining Room (that, naturally, showcases British classics like Eggs Drumkilbo, an egg, prawn and lobster dish favored by the late Queen Mother) was designed by interiors heavyweight David Linley, nephew of Queen Elizabeth II. The grand rooms and lobby were recently refurbished by the country’s top artisans to inject a rich, undeniably feels-like-London charm; bespoke furnishings by the respected manufacturer Manborne, Fromental’s exquisite hand-gilded wallpaper, as well as colorful Gainsborough Silk wall coverings and curtains.

Instead of run-of-the-mill butlers, there are red-liveried footmen, a detail that could read as tacky if not for the splendid surroundings and royal family legacy.

In 2013, The Goring was the first and only hotel to be granted a royal warrant from Queen Elizabeth II. If you can’t afford a stay, stop in for afternoon tea (in the lounge where the Queen has held her Christmas lunch) or a cocktail in the glamorous crimson-hued bar.

Royal Hairdressers 71 St James’s St. London truefittandhill.co.uk

William Francis Truefitt started out as court wig maker to King George III, before setting up shop in 1805 to offer luxury barbery services (first wig-making and styling — a time-consuming affair), and later, haircuts to London’s gentry. The pairing of pampering hot towel wet shave with the air of a gentlemen’s club (services always came with a shoe shine) attracted high society, namely Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron, Beau Brummell, Charles Dickens, Sir Winston Churchill and the royal family.

In 1875, hair “preparations” were introduced, leading the way to shaving accessories (the old school silvertip badger hair brush, razor and stand make a stylish souvenir), fragrance and skin products, all crafted in Britain. Today, the traditional shave and other services (still complete with complimentary shoe shine) are performed by barbers nattily attired in white shirt with monogrammed waistcoat and tie. The company has had nine consecutive royal warrants and currently holds one from Prince Philip.

Royal Booksellers 187 Piccadilly London hatchards.co.uk

What began in 1797 as a literary coffee house producing political pamphlets and publications spotlighting social issues of the day is London’s oldest bookseller. The shop’s welcome-to-my townhouse charm — elegant wood paneling, tucked-away fireplaces and a wooden spiral staircase — is underscored by staff-curated tables loaded with selections from well-known and more esoteric British scribes like P.G. Wodehouse, Nancy Mitford, Evelyn Waugh, Agatha Christie and Kingsley Amis. Check the schedule for book signings; high profile artists (recently, Julian Barnes) are often on the docket.

On top of buying a book (the shop is well-known for autographed hardbacks and first editions bound in leather with decorative William Morris endpapers), bibliophiles can sign on for Hatchards’s monthly subscription service which can be delivered anywhere in the world. Hatchards gained its first royal warrant in the 18th century from Queen Charlotte, wife of George II and continues to hold all three warrants from Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Prince Charles.

Royal Purveyors of Chocolates 14 Princes Arcade London prestat.co.uk

This century-old chocolatier’s quirky heritage has amassed a cult following. The actor John Gielgud, Cher, Tina Turner and Paul McCartney have nipped in to sample pâte de fruit “fruity babes” and ginger hunks while the 19th- and early-20th-century French actress Sarah Bernhardt commissioned a specialty inverted violet crème in 1910, a Prestat classic known to have been the Queen Mother’s favorite flavor. One famous relationship was with the novelist Roald Dahl whose passion for Prestat truffles landed Prestat a starring role in his novel “My Uncle Oswald” and is said to have inspired the children’s book, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

Truffles (William and Kate served them at their wedding) are best-sellers. The boozy “Popping Pink Prosecco,” a tangy Yuzu sake and London gin (that dramatically fizzes in the mouth) are newer incarnations, while the classic Marc de Champagne (using the founder Antoine Dufour’s original recipe from 1895) is still in demand. The shop is closed for renovation and is scheduled to reopen May 14.

Royal Hatters 6 St. James’s Street London lockhatters.co.uk

Since 1676, Lock & Co. Hatters has created toppers for royals and aristocracy. The business designed the bicorne hat, the de rigueur military accouterment of the time, worn by Admiral Lord Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar, invented the bowler, popularized the fedora and tweed newsboy, and have remained the go-to for top hats (Sir Winston Churchill wore one to his wedding in 1908) through the present day. It’s still a family-run business operating from the same four-story building since 1759.

In 1993, Lock introduced women’s high fashion millinery (statement head pieces are a popular trend in Britain; the Duchess of Cambridge frequently sports Lock’s designs to formal occasions) though classic designs remain best-sellers.

As in the past, customers’ heads are measured with a Victorian-looking contraption called a conformateur; purchases come in a hand-cut, paper-and-card hatbox, a souvenir in and of itself. The firm holds two royal warrants: Prince Philip and Prince Charles. Lock partnered with the jeweler Garrard & Co, also the holder of a royal warrant, to fit George IV’s crown to Queen Elizabeth II’s head for her 1953 coronation, relining the interior with ermine and purple velvet.

Royal Livery Tailors 15 Savile Row London henrypoole.com

A military tailoring outfit begun during the Napoleonic Wars evolved into the court tailor to Queen Victoria in 1869, producing the palace’s livery, or official uniform. After meeting and then outfitting Queen Victoria’s son, the Prince of Wales (known as Bertie), Poole’s popularity soared.

This relationship produced modern black-tie dress. In 1865, tired of fussy white-tie evening dress with coattails, the fashionable Bertie asked Poole to design a more informal ensemble — “a short silk smoking jacket with silk collar and cuffs, lined silk; a pair of trousers to match” — for entertaining at his country home in Sandringham. This look would later come to be known as the tuxedo.

Poole was also Savile Row’s founding tailor. The firm’s bespoke suiting (the process requires three fittings and between 80 to 120 hours of hand stitching) attracted an international clientele, Czar Alexander II of Russia, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, J.P. Morgan, William Randolph Hearst, Frank Lloyd Wright, among others. The merchant has served each monarch since Queen Victoria which has translated into Poole’s livery and other garments being worn at every coronation, jubilee and royal wedding since the merchant was issued the first warrant in 1869. Sartorial buffs can book a visit to the archive room where leather-bound books detailing every client since 1846 are stored.

Royal Perfumers Royal Manufacturers of Toilet Preparations 89 Jermyn Street, St. James’s London florislondon.com

Floris is an independent, family-run business, and operates from the Jermyn Street premises where it was founded in 1730. Originally a barber, but also trained in perfumery, Juan Famenias Floris introduced a zesty lime unisex fragrance in the late 18th century that became an instant hit, offering both an uplifting perfume and an olfactory tool to combat the stench of London’s sewage-strewn streets. Soon, classic floral scents — rose, lily of the valley, violet, stephanotis — were sold alongside grooming products, bespoke fragrances concocted for wealthy clients in the shop’s cellar. While most royal warrant holders are hush-hush about their customers, Floris has a small museum in the back of the shop with letters and archived receipts from various palaces and high-wattage clientele like Sir Winston Churchill (Special No. 127 and Stephanotis, both of which are still available), Ian Fleming (No. 89; Fleming also mentions Floris in the James Bond novels “Moonraker,” “Diamonds are Forever” and “Dr. No,” Marilyn Monroe (Rose Geranium) and Queen Elizabeth II. Floris received its first royal warrant from King George IV in 1820.

Royal Jewellers, Goldsmiths and Silversmiths 24 Albemarle Street London garrard.com

Established in 1735, The House of Garrard, which also functioned as silversmiths, received its first royal commission from Frederick, Prince of Wales (a black ebony teapot handle) that same year. Queen Victoria appointed Garrard as Crown Jewelers in 1843 and the house has served every monarch since then, crafting five crowns (still worn for state occasions) which can be viewed at the Tower of London Jewel House, a dazzling exhibit of royal regalia, including the Crown Jewels, where tourists are transported through displays by way of a moving walkway).

On top of countless royal commissions, Garrard is known for exquisite tiaras, including the Cambridge Lover’s Knot, a headpiece of 19 diamond-encrusted arches framing large drop-shaped pearls that has been passed down from Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth II and lent to Princess Diana, and recently worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, in addition to the “Girls of Britain and Ireland tiara,” the spiky diadem with a band of round and lozenge-shaped diamonds frequently worn by Queen Elizabeth II and featured on British bank notes.

Today’s collections are understated, inspired by regal heritage but designed for contemporary life. You can visit the Queen Mary salon upstairs (by appointment) to view paintings of the royal crowns and try on a few imitation tiaras from the royal collection.

Amy Tara Koch, based in Chicago, writes about travel, style, food and parenting.

The post A Road Map to Shopping Like a Royal appeared first on World The News.

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