The Clermont Set was an exclusive group of rich British gamblers who met at the Clermont Club, originally at 44

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...

, in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

's fashionable Mayfair district. It closed in March 2018 and re-opened in 2022. Clermont Club is now temporarily closed.

Premises

The house at 44

was built in 1740 (to the design of the architect

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, bu ...

) by Lady Isabella Finch (1700–1771), the 7th daughter of Daniel Finch, 7th Earl of Winchilsea, 2nd Earl of Nottingham (1647–1730). It is famed for its theatrical staircase and large Grand Saloon, "one of the finest rooms of its scale and period in London",Kinross, Lord the design of which was based on the famous Double Cube Room at

Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution ...

in Wiltshire. She never married but became

Lady of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. They are ranked between the Mis ...

to Princess Amelia, a spinster aunt of King George III. It was purchased after her death by

William Henry Fortescue, 1st Earl of Clermont William Henry Fortescue, 1st Earl of Clermont, KP (5 August 1722 – 30 September 1806), was an Irish peer and politician. Origins He was the eldest son of Thomas Fortescue (1683–1769), a Member of Parliament for Dundalk. His younger b ...

(1722–1806), an Irish peer, and served as his London

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

History

It was the first London casino opened by John Aspinall after he received a gaming licence under Britain's new gambling law. Aspinall sold the club in 1972 to

Playboy Enterprises PLBY Group, Inc. is an American global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Hefner as Playboy Enterprises, Inc. to oversee the ''Playboy'' magazine and related assets. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California. The company is focus ...

, which was forced to sell it in 1982 when it lost its licence.

Members

The club was founded in 1962 by John Aspinall and the original membership included five

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

s, five marquesses, almost twenty

earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

s and two

cabinet ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

. Society figures who frequented the club included

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

,Wright, Jade, "Expect fireworks", ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

'', 23 February 2009 Ian Fleming,

David Stirling Sir Archibald David Stirling (15 November 1915 – 4 November 1990) was a Scottish officer in the British army, a mountaineer, and the founder and creator of the Special Air Service (SAS). He saw active service during the Second World War. ...

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

Lord Lucan Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934 – disappeared 8 November 1974, declared death in absentia, declared dead 3 February 2016), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British Peerages in the United Kingdom, peer who di ...

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

, Lord Boothby, and the Duke of Devonshire.Hiscock, John. "Gangsters in a class of their own ...", ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' 21 February 2009 Businessman members included

James Goldsmith Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier, tycoon''Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith'' by Ivan Fallon and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family. His cont ...

Tiny Rowland Roland Walter "Tiny" Rowland (; 27 November 1917 – 25 July 1998) was a British businessman, corporate raider and the chief executive of the Lonrho conglomerate from 1962 to 1993. He gained fame from a number of high-profile takeover bids, in ...

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce a ...

, Jim Slater, and Kerry Packer.

''Private Eye'' allegations

In 1976 Goldsmith initiated a libel action against the satirical magazine '' Private Eye'', which had alleged that members of the Clermont Set, including Goldsmith, had conspired to shelter Lord Lucan after Lucan was suspected of murdering his family nanny, Sandra Rivett. Goldsmith won a partial victory and eventually reached a

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

with the magazine.

References

{{reflist English gamblers Mayfair

Premises

History

Members

''Private Eye'' allegations

See also

References