Royal Avenue is a garden square in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

. The street runs between the

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and St Leonard's Terrace.

History

Royal Avenue was laid out in the 1690s by

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

with the intention that it form part of a proposed carriage way between the Hospital with

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official L ...

. As the middle of the square was enclosed by a hedge and a small white fence, by 1748 it was known as White Stile Walk.

Notable residents

Royal Avenue is the fictional home of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

in the

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

novels. No.2 was the birthplace of

David Carritt Hugh David Graham Carritt (15 April 1927 – 3 August 1982) was a British art historian, dealer and critic, who was described by ''The New York Times'' as being "responsible for more sensational discoveries in the field of Old Master painting sin ...

(1927–1982), art historian, dealer and critic. No.4 was home to

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

from the 1980s to 1998. No.18 has been home to the artist Bernard Stern (1920-2002), and the architect

Richard Rogers Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was a British architect noted for his modernist and Functionalism (architecture), functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner a ...

. No.30 has been home to

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Blackliste ...

, the American film director, and his 1963 film ''

The Servant A servant is a person working within an employer's household. Servant or servants may refer to: Places * Servant, Puy-de-Dôme, France Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Servant'' (1963 film), a British drama * ''The Servant'' (1989 ...

'' starring Dirk Bogarde, Susannah York and Edward Fox was shot in an empty house opposite. No.36 was rented by

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

for his mistress

Fanny Cornforth Fanny Cornforth (born Sarah Cox; 3 January 1835 – 24 February 1909) was an English artist's model, and the mistress and muse of the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Cornforth performed the duties of housekeeper for Ros ...

. No.39 was the home of novelist and scriptwriter

Elinor Glyn Elinor Glyn ( Sutherland; 17 October 1864 – 23 September 1943) was a British novelist and scriptwriter who specialised in romantic fiction, which was considered scandalous for its time, although her works are relatively tame by modern stand ...

(1864–1943), who died there.

References

{{coord, 51.4895, -0.1617, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Chelsea, London Garden squares in London Squares in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea King's Road, Chelsea, London