Rob McGibbon interviews Felicity Kendal at Cadogan Hall Chelsea, in 2012. Photo © Hattie Miles/RobMcGibbon
Citizen Fame
Slight Surprise: Kensington Man Falls Over
World Exclusive Photos - UNCENSORED VERY late Breaking News: A Kensington man fell over, The Citizen can be the last to reveal. The 60-year-old stumbler - who has publicly fat-shamed himself repeatedly for “carrying excess timber” - tripped on a small step and landed like the proverbial “sack of spuds”. The unremarkable incident (280,000 people fall each year - 767 per day - and need hospital treatment in the UK) took place in a bar at...
Didier Garnier interview: “L’addition!” Le Colombier’s popular ‘chef d’orchestre’ prepares to say Au Revoir
For nearly three decades, Le Colombier has been one of Chelsea’s most cherished open secrets — the sort of restaurant whispered about between friends, protected like a family heirloom, and loved for its unfussy French elegance. AA Gill once called it “that secret little restaurant… as close to ideal as you can get.” Now, its legendary proprietor, Didier Garnier, has decided to call time. “I’m very happy to finish at the top,” he told The...
Les Hinton Interview: ‘Every editor and publisher turned down my novel. It was crushing’
As Rupert Murdoch’s loyal lieutenant for 52 years, Les Hinton controlled the key levers of power in a global media corporation and was comfortable in the corridors of powers. He made and broke the careers of some of the sharpest operators in journalism, as well as any number of political leaders. In more recent years, he has enjoyed an altogether calmer existence and has reinvented himself as an author. First came his 2018 memoir The Bootle...
Felicity Kendal Interview: My 60 years of the good life in Chelsea
If you have ever wondered who might qualify as a stand-up citizen of Chelsea, then Felicity Kendal can take a bow. In the past few years alone, she has lent her celebrity name to give publicity oxygen to multiple worthy local battles: the houseboat owners’ fight against their “predatory” landlord, the M&S development, road safety on Cheyne Walk, save the fire station, save Tite Street, save Battersea Bridge. And these are just the battles...
More News & Interviews
Public Inquiry Day 5: Temperatures rise as Rockwell’s KC clashes with council officer
The long-running battle over the controversial Battersea Bridge tower roared back into life this week — with campaigners insisting they are quietly...
Public Inquiry Day 4: “This is the Donald Trump of planning applications…cold-hearted and vain, driven by ignorance, arrogance, and avarice”. Rockwell slammed in stinging statement
Veteran Fleet Street journalist and campaigner Rob McGibbon yesterday launched a blistering broadside against the controversial Battersea Bridge...
Public Inquiry Day 3: Fury as Battersea Society criticises Rockwell for “deceitful PR campaign”
Emotions exploded at the Battersea Bridge tower inquiry as a leading residents’ group tore into developers Rockwell — branding their tactics a...
Public Inquiry Day 2: Heated clashes over light, height and the sky high costs for a seat at the table
Residents living close to a proposed 29-storey tower at Battersea Bridge yesterday warned that the development would deprive their homes of vital...
Public Inquiry Day 1: After one battle after another, the last battle over the Battersea Bridge tower begins
The long-awaited public inquiry into Rockwell’s hugely controversial 29-storey tower finally got underway at Wandsworth Town Hall today. Lawyers,...
Sir Mick Jagger: “This tower is wrong on EVERY level”
Rolling Stones legend Sir Mick Jagger and actress Felicity Kendal have come out fighting against Rockwell Property's "toxic tower" for Battersea. On...
Wandsworth Council Chief: ‘Rockwell has behaved arrogantly and has no care for what residents or the council thinks of its tower. It they lose the appeal, they should pay our costs’
Wandsworth Council’s leading planning chief has blasted developers of the controversial tower by Battersea Bridge as ‘arrogant’ and acting with ‘no...
Campaigner and champion “tree hugger” Chris Packham makes landmark planting at the V&A
A brand new tree has put down roots in South Kensington — and it’s a big one for London’s green campaigners. TV wildlife star and proud “tree...