EVENT UPDATE : THE FAYRE OF ST JAMES CAROL CONCERT... ST JAMES CHURCH PICADILLY .. LONDON... NOVEMBER 26TH 2025 ...

Photo (c) : Dave Bennett

 Joan made an appearance earlier at The Fayre of St James Carol Concert held at St James Church to raise funds for The Quintessentially Foundation which raises awareness of child poverty and ways to tackle it. Following the carol concert there was an exclusive dinner at Loulou's Hertford Street with a silent auction. Among the guest attending the event were Richard E Grant, Kathy Lette, Theo & Louise Fennell and Charlotte Tilbury among others.

(c) Dave Bennett    Joan & Percy with brother Bill & wife Hazel

EVENT UPDATE : CLARIDGE'S BURBERRY CHRISTMAS TREE 2025 UNVEILING .. CLARIDGES LONDON.. NOVEMBER 25TH 2025 ..

 

Credit: Dave Benett/Getty for Burberry

The Christmas season has officially begun with the unveiling of Claridges Christmas Tree, this year sponsored by Burberry and designed by Daniel Lee.. Joan was in sparkling form as one of the star guests along with Richard E. Grant, Celia Imrie, Jennifer Saunders, Sophie Dahl, Nicky Haslam, David Downton among others.. 

 (Photo by Ricky Vigil M / Justin E Palmer/GC Images)

Claridge’s celebrates ‘tradition and togetherness’ with its Burberry-designed Christmas tree

The 2025 installation in the hotel’s chequerboard lobby features giant chess pieces and bows crafted from surplus Burberry fabric

Fiona McCarthy

Claridge's Christmas Tree this year is a 16-foot wonder, designed by Daniel Lee, Burberry’s chief creative officer, complete with hundreds of bows made from the fashion house’s surplus fabric. Dotted across the hotel’s iconic chequerboard lobby floor are giant matte gold chess pieces, a play on the 169-year-old house’s Equestrian Knight insignia (apparently founder Thomas
Burberry was a mad chess fan); knights, queens, bishops, kings, rooks and pawns will also adorn the tree alongside golden hanging bells. While it is Lee’s first fir, it is Burberry’s second, after former creative director Christopher Bailey delivered a gleaming tower of a hundred silver and gold fabric umbrellas in 2015.

This year’s tree, says Lee, was his chance “to celebrate tradition and togetherness, expressed through vibrant colours and rich textures,” he says. “I wanted to celebrate the beauty of British landscapes at this time of year so we combined the wild, natural foliage from the UK with thistles, Scotland’s national flower (a nod to Burberry’s connection to the Highlands where its iconic cashmere check is made, primarily with Johnstons of Elgin), brass bells and at its base cosy check cushions and blankets,” the designer enthuses.

The Burberry vibe has been extended through the hotel for Christmas in other ways too – the fashion house’s famous check, in a deep festive red, lines the hotel’s 129-year-old Art Deco scissor-gated lift (the oldest working lift in London), wraps the guest key card envelopes; while Burberry scarves will keep the doormen’s necks warm through the winter.

Since Claridge’s unveiled its first ever designer Christmas tree in 2009 – an otherworldly frozen tropical forest dreamscape whimsically conjured by Dior’s then creative director John Galliano – going to see the Christmas tree at London’s most famous hotel has become a grown-up version of childhood visits to Santa.

The designer tree idea was first sparked over a glass of champagne in the hotel’s moody Fumoir bar, when Paula Fitzherbert, Maybourne’s Head of Global Communications (the hotel group also has The Connaught, The Berkeley and the Emory in London) and Kate Hudson, who worked at Dior (now Claridge’s archivist) wondered if Galliano might get involved with making the hotel fit for Christmas. With an immediate, resounding yes, Galliano and creative director Michael Howells (who had collaborated with the designer on his catwalk shows) dreamed up a scene of flowing, iridescent leopards and slithering snakes, “all hand-made in papier-mâché by artisans in Paris and then shipped over,” Fitzherbert recalls.

Before then, there had been a classic Norwegian spruce adorned with classic baubles and shopping bags from the nearby Bond Street boutiques scattered around its base. When Galliano’s design debuted, “it was a bit controversial,” laughs Fitzherbert. “There were some naysayers for sure,” she says, remembering “almost crying” as she delivered the faxed sketch sent through by Galliano to Philippe Leboeuf, then Claridge’s general manager. “But he was just so fabulous and said, ‘sounds fantastic, let’s go for it’.”

Transforming the lobby requires working through the night – “between the last guests going to bed and the first ones coming down for breakfast,” says Fitzherbert – and often means bringing in cherry pickers (the trees can go as high as 21ft, reaching up to the first floor landing), staging West End-style lighting, taking down chandeliers and, for Diane von Furstenberg, even removing the lobby portrait of Mrs Claridge, while set builders grab a quick snooze on the sweeping staircase and staff wheel in room-service trolleys laden with coffee, burgers (and champagne when the job’s done) to keep the team going.

Most take two nights to install; Christian Louboutin’s “The Loubi Express” train – complete with a number of accompanying trees decorated with gingerbread shoe biscuits and twinkling fairy lights – took four. As wild and whacky as some of these may have been, there have been just a few quiet moments when the Claridge’s team have said no. Dior’s request to lay grey carpet like the one in its Avenue Montaigne boutique up the hotel’s lobby stairs was “a step too far,” says Fitzherbert; and once Dolce & Gabbana wanted to put a jacket on a throne which didn’t suit the Art Deco vibe.

It’s all unveiled during a riotous party, which this year Burberry are hosting in over the Foyer restaurant. The best of London’s party people sipped on bespoke Burberry “Winter Knight” cocktails (infused with Claridge’s gin, herby Yellow Chartreuse liqueur, mulled spices and hints of citrus, topped with a splash of Billecart-Salmon Le Réserve) while grazing on crab tartlets topped with caviar, crumpets topped with black truffle shavings and CFT (Claridge’s Fried Turkey) from the laden feasting table.

The Claridge’s Christmas tree is now integral to the hotel’s annual traditions, as sought after as a table for one of its lavish afternoon teas (which book out the minute reservations open). “It’s an idea of what Christmas ought to be. An exercise in contemporary nostalgia,” offers David Downton, the hotel’s resident artist. Lee agrees. “Claridge’s always feels like home to me, from the moment I walk through its revolving doors,” he says. “It’s where I’ve enjoyed many special moments over the years.” So where else better for the designer responsible for recently putting the most British of fashion brands back on the map, in a place he says is a long-standing “true symbol of elegance and British heritage”, celebrating Christmas in rich, plush glory, “my favourite time of year.”

This year’s Claridge’s Christmas tree will be on show until January 4, 2026; claridges.co.uk

EVENT UPDATE : THE SHOOTING STAR CHILDREN'S HOSPICES BALL. THE ROYAL LANCASTER LONDON.. NOVEMBER 22ND 2025 ...

 

SHOOTING STAR CHILDREN'S HOSPICE

Joan brought true glamour to The Royal Lancaster as she attended The Shooting Star Children's Charity Ball. Joan who is vice president of the charity is always on hand to give support for the charity. Other guests included Maureen Lipman, Brenda Blethyn,
Michelle Collins and Joan's friends Andrew Pierce, Sue Vanner and Evie Bricusse.

PROMO ALERT : THE DAME JOAN COLLINS BOUQUET & VASE FROM M&S ... ORDER NOW!

 

Just in time for the festive season of giving the perfect gift, comes this exclusive bouquet of fabulous flowers with vase with the approval of Joan featuring her signature white oriental lilies and other seasonal blooms.. For that someone special comes in premium packaging and a fabulous note card featuring all the glamour that is Dame Joan..

ORDER The Dame Joan Bouquet Here..

Inspired by the legendary glamour of Dame Joan Collins, this season’s Christmas design is the epitome of elegance and opulence. A show-stopping arrangement of 40 traditional blooms in rich, romantic tones, it stars velvety red roses, dramatic oriental lilies, delicately scented freesia, and accents of glimmering gold eucalyptus and lush laurel greenery. Perfect for holiday gatherings or as a thoughtful gift, this bouquet can be displayed in the accompanying stylish vase.

What's included?

40 stems including Red Rose, White Oriental Lily, White Freesia, Laurel, Eucalyptus Robusta and Vase

PRESS UPDATE : THE SPECTATOR .. OCTOBER 31ST 2025 ..

 

Diary

The day James Blunt stripped off in front of me

Joan Collins

The beautiful British actress Samantha Eggar has died in LA. I hope that will be the last in a spate of deaths among friends and celebrities in the past three months. First it was Terence Stamp, the handsome actor who starred with Samantha in

Joan with friend Samantha Eggar

 The Collector, which made them both into stars. Then the legendary Robert Redford, whose many fabulous performances in exceptional movies make today’s film output look positively anaemic. The Way We Were, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and Indecent Proposal are just a few of the brilliantly entertaining films he starred in. I met him only once, on a flight from New York to LA. He was charming, standing up from his first-class seat to exchange pleasantries. Also in the first-class compartment on that flight were Al Pacino and the famous prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson case, Marcia Clark, who canoodled under a blanket with a young lover for the entire flight. I turned to my friend Nolan Miller and said: ‘If this plane goes down, who would get top billing?’

Then there was Diane Keaton’s death, which was a great shock to the film community. A marvellously versatile actor, she enlivened so many iconic films. Percy sat next to her in March at a dinner hosted by Sherry Lansing, Hollywood producer and ex-head of Paramount, and all Diane could keep saying was: ‘I’m crazy. I’m just so crazy.’ Diane’s death was preceded by the loss of Dame Jilly Cooper, mourned by so many of her readers. All these people left their mark on society and entertainment, but one who left a great mark on the hospitality business was Patrice de Colmont, the owner and life and soul of the renowned Riviera bistro Le Club 55. Everyone who was anyone living in or visiting the south of France would go for lunch there – if they could get a table. The avuncular Patrice guarded his placement with bulldog determination. He also kept out the photographers and the paparazzi, so the many celebrities could eat and drink with impunity. The only time I ever saw paparazzi make it through was when Elizabeth Taylor and her date George Hamilton arrived. They broke the banks of dedicated waiters and swarmed around the famous couple, causing chaos. Elizabeth was charming and took it all in her stride as the offending paps were trundled off.

Joan at Club 55 with friends including Nikki Haskell & Ivana Trump

I was a great admirer of Margaret Thatcher and so I was delighted to be a guest of honour at the lavish celebration at the Guildhall of what would have been her 100th birthday. The hall was filled with grandees and politicos, most of them proudly flaunting their medals and honours (as did I). I sat between the Canadian former foreign minister John Baird and Lord Archer, tastefully dressed in velvet jacket and… white sneakers.

Joan at The Thatcher Gala

Conversation was spirited, despite Lord Archer having left his hearing aid at home. After Sir Conor Burns introduced me, I made a short speech. I think most people only want to hear short speeches. Boris Johnson’s speech, though long, was full of flavour and fun, even if some of it was incomprehensible. In my speech, I recalled being invited to the White House by Nancy and Ronald Reagan during Thatcher’s time as PM. When I arrived, the president asked: ‘How’s my gal Maggie?’ ‘I think she’s doing great,’ I replied. ‘She’s a great gal,’ he said. Indeed, she was a great gal and we all raised our glasses to her that night.

Joan with Gabriella Peacock

I celebrated the christening of my 15th godchild Felix Peacock last month. Proud parents David and Gabriella had invited a cavalcade of well-known people that included a former prime minister, a smattering of royalty and captains of industry, as well as my five co-godparents including David’s brother, Piers Morgan’s wife Celia Walden, and James Blunt, the short crooner. At the lunch, Blunt stripped off, got up on the table and gave a speech denigrating his fellow godparents. He wore nothing but a pair of Speedos, concealing what one wag described as ‘a package worthy of a field mouse’. By contrast, baby Felix was one of the most delightful and well-behaved babies I’ve ever encountered. He comported himself impeccably as he was passed from Mummy to nanny to Granny and everyone else. Only during the service did he let his true feelings be known, by giving a massive yawn.

We’ve been attempting to lose a few pounds, trying to shed the summer spread. Basically, cutting down portions, wine and sugar. No Mounjaro for us. Since it was Percy’s birthday last week, we allowed ourselves a couple of ‘cheat days’ and promptly gained back the pounds we had shed over several weeks. If only everything in life was as easy as getting fat.

Written by

Joan Collins

EVENT UPDATE : PIERS MORGAN.. WOKE IS DEAD BOOK LAUNCH .. OCTOBER 23RD 2025 ..

 Joan turned up to support friend Piers Morgan as he launched his latest book Woke Is Dead in The Crypt Cafe at St Martins in The Field London. 

PRESS UPDATE : DAILY MAIL .. OCTOBER 17TH 2025 ..

 

Decades of decadence at the world's most glamorous beach club: JOAN COLLINS recalls Roger Moore being handbagged by his wife for flirting... and the Hollywood star who couldn't get a table

By JOAN COLLINS FOR THE DAILY MAIL..

Entering the bougainvillea-covered entrance to Club 55 at lunchtime last July 4, I was looking forward to the annual American Independence Day celebration that was always held at this iconic restaurant.

As usual, the whole of the outdoor venue was a riot of stars and stripes. American flags fluttered from the rafters and waved from the middle of each table.

Then I noticed something was not quite right. In place of Patrice de Colmont, the energetic and good-looking host who could normally be seen greeting and seating the day's patrons, was his sister Veronique.

'Where's Patrice?' I asked her.

'He's not too well,' she replied, 'He's in the back of the restaurant – you can see him. We don't tell many, but he would love to see you.'

I went back and what I encountered took me by surprise. Patrice had always been a dynamic and powerful personality, with a lion's mane of hair and that genuine perma-tan that one only gets by being a true outdoors man.

What sat in his place was a frail old man who was struggling to stand up. Yet his magnetism and his beautiful smile remained undimmed as we greeted each other.

And so, when I heard he had died last week at the age of 77, the memories flooded back, not only of celebrating Independence Day, but of all the lunches I had enjoyed at 55.

Joan with Elton John at Club 55

It was called 55 because it all happened in 1955, and 'Club' because de Colmont only wanted to serve people he liked.

Club 55 not only became the trendiest go-to place for lunch on the whole of the Cote d'Azur but the most sophisticated, yet effortlessly glamorous, beach club in the world, hosting heads of state and the global elite, without ever losing its unpretentious – almost primitive – allure.

It is a Mecca, not only for the denizens of Saint Tropez, but for the summer season's visitors.

Today the hoi polloi fight to get reservations, yet Patrice de Colmont, son of the patriarch, followed his father's example in being very choosy about whom he allowed in to sample the delicious food and the heady ambience of his little bit of heaven.

To give you an example of how difficult it was to get a table, one morning I received a call from a Hollywood superstar asking us if we were free for lunch the following day. When we said yes, he asked sheepishly: ‘Shall we go to Club 55? I couldn’t get a reservation, and I know you can.’

Patrice ran Club 55 so expertly in the high season that it maintained a turnover of at least three lunch sittings every day.

THERE is the 12 o’clock group, mostly toddlers, nannies and kids; the two o’clock group, mostly regulars; and the afternoon crowd who stumble in from their gin palaces after four o’clock to have fun until the sun and their hangovers settle. More than just a restaurant, it is true ‘theatre’.

I first went to Club 55 shortly after it opened. In the 1960s, the American Hollywood actress Natalie Wood and I stayed at the nearby Tahiti Plage, with my two toddlers Tara and Sacha.

Leaving them to frolic in the sands with nanny, Natalie and I would deck ourselves out in the St Tropez fashions of the day – denim shorts, bikini top, multiple colourful scarves and pareos (a sort of wraparound skirt) and tons and tons of necklaces and bracelets. We usually topped it all off with massive earrings and either a trendy head covering or a straw hat.

We noticed Patrice, then the young son of Bernard, helping his father in the restaurant.

‘He’s very good looking,’ giggled Natalie as we sat drinking their vin de maison Petale de Rose and checking out the other guests. Cher was one of them, holding court and also wearing an ultra-chic bohemian outfit. Many thought Patrice was the best-looking boy on the beach, and he held this ranking for decades.

During the 1980s, 55 thrived and it became impossible to get a reservation unless Patrice knew and liked you. He disliked drunks but he didn’t mind smokers, even cigar smokers, which I hated.

As the spring days turn warmer, the anticipation of going to Club 55 is akin to the advent of Christmas, and although technically it was not a club, it felt like it because all of one’s friends were there lunching on their superb artichoke vinaigrette or loup de mer.

On any given day you can see stars of stage and screen, heroes of the playing field or titans of business.

On one recent memorable day this last summer we were surrounded by the Spanish Formula One driver Carlos Sainz, the American basketball great Lebron James, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his scantily clad new wife, and recent Oscar winner for The Brutalist, Adrien Brody, who very sweetly came over to say ‘Hi’. I told him he obviously needed to make more movies whose titles ends in ‘ist’ since his previous Oscar was for The Pianist.

Jack Nicholson was a frequent customer, arriving by speed boat at the jetty, grinning his famous smile and smoking… not sure what… followed by several acolytes.

Another icon who regularly lunches at Club 55 once or twice a year is Elton John with his husband David Furnish. He would always arrive in a sleek motorboat with several celebrity friends. After lunch he would return to his villa in Nice, leaving in his wake his hilarious anecdotes and gracious charm.

Harvey Weinstein often lunched there during the Cannes Film Festival in May. He wore the filthiest sneakers and T-shirts, and watching him slobber his spaghetti was a revolting sight.

In the 1980s, I’d often lunch with Roger Moore, his wife Luisa and their children, who were around the same age as mine.

Luisa was Italian and feisty and extremely possessive.

Roger, then at the height of his James Bond fame, was like catnip to women, lots of whom would sidle up asking for a photo or an autograph. He would always oblige, but

Luisa was having none of it. After Roger, the model of a polite gentleman, had stood up, oozing his fabled charm, to indulge an admirer one time too many for his wife, Luisa hit him on the shoulder with her napkin and hissed at him in Italian to stop flirting.

‘I wasn’t flirting,’ he protested, ‘I was just being polite.’ At which Luisa hit him again, this time with a hard-sided Gucci handbag.

One celebrity who impressed me tremendously with his cool attitudes and polite manners was Johnny Depp. Percy and I had joined him for lunch with my friend, the producer Mike Medavoy, at a long table full of what looked like Hollywood ‘suits’.

Depp had recently had massive success with Pirates Of The Caribbean and was extremely popular with the younger generation.

I watched in admiration, and some awe, as all the youngsters at 55 queued up to have a selfie with their hero and he, like gentleman Roger Moore, obliged every single one with a smile and never sat down to eat a bite.

MORE often than not, however, celebrities are left in peace and not asked for selfies or autographs. Hence, I was most surprised when one suspected fan lunged at me across my table and swiped my hat off my head.

I was seated next to Piers Morgan who, with cat-like reflexes, grabbed the wrist of the aggressor. ‘What are you doing?’ he demanded (he can be quite imposing that way).

The poor lady who had perpetrated this act pleaded in a terrified voice: ‘I was just trying to save her from the poisonous caterpillar that landed on her hat…’

In summer, St Tropez can be rife with the ‘pine processionary’ – a caterpillar that can cause a terrible skin reaction and one of them had landed on my hat. Piers was pleased. ‘I saved your life,’ he crowed for the rest of the day.

Club 55 is also a favourite with many Americans. When Percy and I first moved to New York in the early 2000s we received an invitation from the wife of an American mega billionaire to attend his 55th birthday. ‘Dress Club 55,’ said the invitation.

‘It’s February,’ I said to Percy, ‘We’ll freeze!’ But of course I donned on my heaviest winter overcoat on top of my floatiest, frilliest dress and went, taking our friend Kenneth Branagh, who had asked us out for dinner.

He was as dumbfounded as we were upon seeing this gorgeous penthouse Park Avenue apartment done up like Club 55. There was sand on the floor, palm trees and tropical flowers in abundance and a set of backdrops painted with the skyline of St Tropez.

Everyone was dressed to kill in Riviera gear, the rosé was flowing and the French music made us feel as if we were back in summer.

‘Why did you want to do this?’ I asked the host.

‘I’m crazy for Club 55,’ he replied, doffing one of his most prized possessions – his Club 55 baseball cap. ‘There’s no place like it in New York and since I’m turning 55, why not?’

There certainly is no place like Club 55, and no one like the great, gentle man and brilliant host Patrice de Colmont. May he rest in peace, but may Club 55 continue to give us fabulous memories for many more years.

EVENT UPDATE : THE MARGARET THATCHER CENTRE 100 CENTENNIAL DINNER.. THE GUILDHALL.. LONDON.. OCTOBER 13TH 2025 ..

 Joan was guest of honour at an exclusive Gala Dinner to celebrate the late Margaret Thatcher's 100 birthday at London's Guildhall.. This Centennial Gala hosted by The Margaret Thatcher Centre also presented Joan with The Margaret Thatcher Centre Best Of British Award.. Other speakers included Mark Thatcher with Jeffrey Archer overseeing the auction.. 

EVENT UPDATE : MANOLO BLAHNIK MARIE ANTOINETTE SOIREE .. THE BURLINGTON ARCADE... SEPTEMBER 24TH 2025 ...

Joan with Manola Blanhik

 

Joan attended a chic gathering hosted by designer Manola Blanhik at The Burlington Arcade.. His Marie Antoinette Soiree was to celebrate a special exhibition at the V&A featuring the fashion and style of the legendary French queen. Manola has also launched a limited edition capsule collection of shoes. Also in attendance at the Soiree were Daphne Guinness, Michael Brandon and Joan's brother Bill and wife Hazel.. 

Joan with Michael Brandon

Joan & Percy with Bill & Hazel

                                   Photos : (c) Dave Benett

EVENT UPDATE : THE PRODUCERS FIRST NIGHT .. THE GARRICK THEATRE .. SEPTEMBER 15TH 2025...

 

Joan back in London after her summer break in South of France attended the opening night of the latest London revival of The Producers at The Garrick Theatre. Also in attendance were Jerry Hall, Bonnie Langford, Penelope Wilton & Elaine Paige..

                                 (c) Kate Green 

EVENT UPDATE : FREDERIC MERLIN BIRTHDAY DINNER .. GIGI ST TROPEZ.. AUGUST 1ST 2025 ...

Joan with Frederic Merlin

 

Joan with Massimo Gargia

Joan is enjoying her annual break in the South of France and had a fun evening at Gigi Restaurant for Frederic Merlin's birthday dinner. Joan was delighted to catch up with her good friends Massimo Gargia and Francine LeFrak...

Joan with Francine LaFrak

PRESS UPDATE : M&S DAME JOAN FLOWER BOUQUET NEW EDITION! ..

These aren't just flowers, these are M&S X Dame Joan Collins flowers

The Flower Market goes A-list with a range of celebrity bouquets by Dame Joan Collins, Kelly Hoppen and Katherine Jenkins...

The Marks & Spencer Flower Market has just launched an exclusive range of celebrity bouquets designed in collaboration with Dame Joan Collins, Kelly Hoppen CBE and Katherine Jenkins OBE.

When it comes to celebrity collaborations, no one does it quite like M&S, from the England women's football team to the designer homeware collection by Kelly Hoppen.

This chic new celebrity line-up offers an unrivalled approach to choosing flowers to gift a loved one or make your home look expensive, thanks to some of the biggest names in the business.

Channelling Dame Joan’s signature sophisticated style, her bouquet is all about glamour and fragrance. Filled with Avalanche Roses, Oriental Lilies, Freesias, Laurel sprigs, and Gold eucalyptus stems – the truly breathtaking arrangement, featuring some of Dame Joan’s most loved flowers.

“From London to Los Angeles, I always mark special occasions with my favourite flowers," says Dame Joan Collins. "The timeless elegance of white lilies and roses makes them the perfect gift.”

Available exclusively at M&S, the bouquet is priced at £75, including a timeless vase to show off the display.

Sophisticated style

M&S Collection

Dame Joan Collins Bouquet With Vase

£75 at M&S