The Rake

When I read the Editor-in-Chief’s letter, which he wrote during a trip to Havana — you can read it overleaf — the joie de vivre that flowed from each sentence gave me the inspiration I was looking for. I decided to write this Founder’s note (the 87th

I am writing this letter from a balcony at the rather lovely Grand Packard Hotel in Havana, overlooking the lighthouse and the endless sea that doubles as the watery hedge around this mystical island, keeping it hidden from most people’s view. I’ve b

The opening scene of the opening episode of the first season of The Crown makes it clear that Netflix’s juggernaut is unafraid to go straight for the Windsor jugular: here is a man, prostrate and ashen, coughing up blood into a toilet. The man is Kin

It is not easy to remain incognito in this world. We have so many curtains opened to our lives; there are so many opportunities for people to take a peek and draw their conclusions about us. It’s even harder for those who have something to show for t

If the function of a royal consort is to keep their head down and wave, then Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands was a disaster. Debonair to the point of flamboyance, the life companion of Queen Juliana made Britain’s Prince Philip look shy and retiri

Churchill said that the Soviet Union was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. If we were to turn the lens on the British establishment, the enigma would be the monarchy; the mystery would be the family members; and the riddle — well, that

Catherine the Great organised a military coup d’état that ousted her husband, Peter III (who was subsequently murdered by her lover’s brother), and then went on to revitalise Russia. Henry IV displaced his cousin Richard II from the throne and had hi

Ever been in a relationship that didn’t work out before moving on to something better? Ever wondered what it would have been like if you and your first love found each other again as adults? Ever had one of your phone calls leaked for profit and your

Savile Row is preparing for the Charles bounce. The Prince of Wales may have been in the public eye for all of his 74 years, but his coming coronation is expected to bring boom times for British tailoring. After all, Charles has long been a regular o

For years, talk of what might be unveiled at the next Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (now known as Watches & Wonders) has begun as soon as the latest fair has finished. It tends to reach fever pitch by about November: what models might be

The latest round of the British royal soap opera, Carry On Up the Windsors, has occasioned much gnashing of teeth. Many times we have been told that the antics of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have imperilled the royal family itself. It’s a stretch.

Before I discovered it was possible to make a living from writing in ways that did not involve churning out stories for the popular press, I worked in the dog-eat-dog world of news agency journalism, where many young reporters cut their teeth. We wer

There are times when even the most committed of rakes and the most dedicated of dandies wake in the morning and cannot face dressing up. Let’s hope King Charles isn’t overcome with sartorial ennui when he rises from the regal bed on the morning of Ma

Since working with the photographer Greg Williams on two consecutive covers for The Rake (Matt Damon and Benicio del Toro, in 2021), I have not been able to resist getting lost in his jet stream. The volume of work he does with Leica in hand would be

Aerial photographs taken by George Lewis Romain, the in-house photographer and Creative Director at the Aircraft Restoration Company. Founded in 1989, Aircraft Restoration Co. (ARCo) is a family owned engineering business specialising in the restorat

It is no secret that Vacheron Constantin stole the show at last year’s Watches & Wonders fair. They reworked one of their historical icons, the 222, to huge acclaim. In yellow-gold, and with seventies charm and proportion, it was an instant hit, and

While we hear all too often about the horse that made an entrance to a certain nightclub in New York, we don’t hear about the horse that made its way into the coronation of King James II. Some argue that we are living in the best conditions that huma

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