Rules Restaurant

Rules Restaurant on Maiden Lane is London's oldest restaurant, established in 1798 by Thomas Rule as a Covent Garden oyster bar. The upstairs private room hosted secret dining dates between the Prince of Wales and actress Lillie Langtry. Saved from demolition in 1971 by Poet Laureate John Betjeman, Rules Restaurant has been operated by four families across the reigns of ten monarchs.

London · from the walk “London's Best-Kept Secrets” · audio ~4 min · Generated

Rules Restaurant, 35 Maiden Lane, London WC2E 7LB

Where in London did the Prince of Wales secretly meet Lillie Langtry for dinner?

Look at the building across the street... number thirty-five Maiden Lane. Behind that elegant yellow brick facade lies London's oldest restaurant... and one of its most scandalous love stories.......... In seventeen ninety-eight... the same year Napoleon launched his campaign in Egypt... a man named Thomas Rule promised his despairing family that he would say goodbye to his wayward past, settle down, and open an oyster bar right here in Covent Garden. To everyone's surprise and disbelief, the enterprise proved not only successful but lasting. Contemporary writers were soon singing the praises of Rules' "porter, pies and oysters," and the "rakes, dandies and superior intelligences" who made up its clientele.......... And this little lane? It was already famous. Just steps away, at number twenty-one, Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in seventeen seventy-five... above his father's barber shop. So when Thomas Rule set up here, he was opening his doors on a street already touched by genius.......... But the Real story is upstairs. On the first floor, by the lattice window, was once the most celebrated "table for two" in all of London. This was the Prince of Wales's favourite spot for wining and dining the beautiful actress Lillie Langtry. To maintain the secrecy of their assignations, the restaurant allowed Edward and Lillie to use a private side entrance. The Prince frequently smuggled Mrs. Langtry up a back staircase to a private room where they could dine alone, far from prying eyes. Today, that upstairs space is a cocktail bar... and yes, you can still sit where a future king whispered sweet nothings to the most famous actress of her age.......... Now, the guest list over two centuries reads like a who's who of British culture. The tables of Rules have been crowded with writers, artists, lawyers, journalists, and actors... Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, H.G. Wells... and the restaurant has appeared in novels by Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, John le Carré, and Dick Francis. It became an unofficial green room for the entertainment world, hosting legends from Henry Irving to Laurence Olivier, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin.......... And Rules is a Survivor. Not even World War Two could shake its resolve... the owners reinforced the structure with thick wooden planks to guard against the Blitz and served compulsory rationed meals at five shillings apiece, alongside non-rationed game like rabbit, grouse, and pheasant. In nineteen seventy-one, when the building faced demolition, Poet Laureate John Betjeman himself complained to the Greater London Council to save it. He called the interior "unique and irreplaceable."

...... Over its remarkable history... spanning the reigns of Ten monarchs... Rules has been owned by just four families. It even owns its own estate, the Lartington Estate in Teesdale, which supplies the game for its kitchen. So if you ever step inside for a steak and kidney pie or a plate of roast pheasant... just remember, you're eating where Dickens ate, where Chaplin laughed, and where a prince fell in love.

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