History of London’s Oldest Restaurant as National Trust Takes Over

For 228 years, London’s oldest restaurant has welcomed some of Britain’s most prominent figures, from monarchs and aristocrats to celebrated writers.

During that long history, Rules has also been the setting for its share of scandals, secret liaisons and controversy.

The Covent Garden institution’s remarkable past has now received official recognition after the celebrity-favourite restaurant was donated to the National Trust.

The arrangement prevents the restaurant from being sold in the future and has renewed interest in the royal romances and discreet encounters that took place within its walls.

One of its most famous patrons was Edward VII, who regularly dined there with actress Lillie Langtry. A curtain was even fitted especially to give the pair greater privacy.

Edward reigned from 1901 until his death in 1910, aged 68. He was married to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, and the couple had six children.

Marriage, however, did not prevent the king from pursuing a string of romantic affairs.

Those linked romantically to Edward included Lady Randolph Churchill, the mother of Winston Churchill, along with actress Sarah Bernhardt, singer Hortense Schneider and socialite Alice Keppel.

Alice Keppel was also the great-grandmother of the current Queen Camilla.

Rules’ reputation as a backdrop for illicit relationships has also been reflected in fiction, including Graham Greene’s novel The End of the Affair.

In the 1951 book, narrator Maurice Bendrix considers whether it is possible to fall in love “over a dish of onions” while dining with his lover.

A more glamorous offering is the restaurant’s celebrated Royal 29 cocktail.

The drink was created to mark the wedding of William and Kate on April 29, 2011.

The cocktail included ground rose petals and crystallised violet petals, citrus juice, a shot of No3 Gin from Berry Bros & Rudd, half a shot of Lillet, a single measure of pink vodka and a Maraschino cherry.

Regular patrons have included another writer Charles Dickens, while further on-screen appearances were in Downton Abbey and the James Bond film Spectre.

Rock star David Bowie was also pictured there, accepting an award in 1973 in recognition of having six albums in the charts that year.

The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein was another frequent diner and moved his management agency NEMS to a nearby office in Covent Garden.

There was also a champagne-fuelled fashion launch in May 1987 by Lily Johnson and partner Consuelo Fraser. 

The 3rd Lord Glenconner took part as a male model at the event also attended by his son Henry Tennant who died aged 30 three years later.

More recently, former I’m A Celebrity winner Joe Swash and fellow contestant and Star Trek actor George Takei were pictured when having lunch at the venue.

The venue’s website tells of historically being ‘an unofficial “green room” for the entertainment industry, hosting legendary actors from Henry Irving to Laurence Olivier and cinema icons like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin’.

The restaurant has been owned by just four different families across its 228-year history, during which Britain had the reigns of two queens and eight kings. 

It is the latest owner, Jean Pierre Mayhew, 78, who has decided after more than four decades to give the £11million building housing the restaurant – between Covent Garden and The Strand in central London – to the Trust.

Rules, renowned for its panelling, red velvet and brass, will operate as before.

Ricky McMenemy, existing owner of the catering business, will become a commercial Trust tenant.

Rules was opened by Thomas Rule, whose family remained owners until the end of the First World War.

In the beginning, the restaurant focused on oysters – still on the menu, now at £5.75 each.

Other meals which could have been enjoyed by Dickens or patrons such as Charlie Chaplin and Carol Channing have included steak and kidney pie, now £26.25, with chips, mash or dauphinoise potatoes for £6.95 extra.

The puddings and cheese menu features an apple and sultana crumble with custard for £11.50, and stilton cheese and biscuits priced at £13.95.

National Trust director general Hilary McGrady thanked donor Mr Mayhew, saying: ‘This place is an outstanding piece of living history, with its corners where kings dined and writers and politicians plotted, and the traditions it kept alive through wars and upheaval.

‘It has defied the odds to be standing here today, doors still open and treacle sponge still on the menu.

‘Mr Mayhew’s extraordinary generosity, and the care he has poured into Rules over many decades, mean this beloved place has a future measured not in years but generations.’

Rules was previously threatened with destruction by the Greater London Council in 1971 – set to be demolished along with nearby historic market Covent Garden, while the Strand was to become a dual carriageway.

Only a campaign involving Rules diner and poet Sir John Betjeman helped stop the unwanted ‘progress’.

Sir John said at a planning meeting: ‘A place constantly used by actors, managers and famous people, as Rules has, acquires an invisible atmosphere, just as a church frequented by praying people acquires an atmosphere.

‘We can sense it and it will not photograph.’

Others dining at Rules include authors William Makepeace Thackeray, HG Wells, Evelyn Waugh and John Le Carre as well as agony aunt Claire Rayner.

James Bond actors Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan have also been seen there too.

The Rules website tells of its history, including how during the Second World War it remained open ‘offering essential rationed meals at five shillings while still indulging patrons with the likes of rabbits, grouse, and pheasants’.

It declares: ‘Rules is more than just a restaurant, it’s a living relic of London’s past.

‘Situated on Maiden Lane, an ancient path that connected the convent garden of Westminster Abbey to St Martin’s Lane, the restaurant has been a witness to London’s ever-changing history.

‘From J.M.W. Turner’s birthplace to tales of Andrew Marvell, Maiden Lane’s historical significance is woven into Rules’ narrative.’

Mr Mayhew bought the restaurant in 1984 from the daughter of Tom Bell. 

Current owner Mr McMenemy has worked there for 35 years, with the restaurant having 90 staff members and with accommodation for 90 diners.