High life
The thrill of sailing rough seas
Coronis I suppose there’s always a first time, and looking back it was bound to happen. I scrambled off a…
The curse of the jet-ski
An F. Scott Fitzgerald biographer by the name of David S. Brown refers to America’s promotion of deviancy (my words)…
Sun-drenched days and too much wine: my summer on Patmos
Patmos Judging by the news, the world is finally coming apart: Chinese lab escapee Covid is still going strong, monkeypox…
How Monte Carlo went to hell
I now find resorts more fun out of season. Civilised tourists are as rare as an intelligent Hollywood movie, so…
In praise of Spectator readers
Michael Beloff, QC and past president of Trinity College Oxford, has just had his memoir reviewed in The Spectator, and…
The Oprah-fication of Wimbledon
Now that the weakest Wimbledon since 1973 – the year of the boycott – is over, a few thoughts about…
The delights of two-timing
Looking back and trying to choose just one out of those incomparably bewitching women of one’s youth can be tricky.…
In praise of the London sense of humour
London As speaker at a posh dinner given by Jonathan and Jake Goedhuis, best UK wine merchants by far, and…
Don’t bet against Emmanuel Macron
It’s nice to be back on the old continent again, especially after getting within a couple of hundred yards of…
The magic of black and white films
He is a rich English lord with a very large house and his wife is a beautiful American with a…
The healing power of the Hamptons
Southampton, Long Island These are peripatetic times for the poor little Greek boy, up to the Hamptons for some sun-seeking…
In praise of Greek royalty
New York Prince Pavlos, heir to the Greek throne, turned 55 recently and I threw a small dinner for him.…
Welcome to post-truth America
A couple more weeks in the Bagel and then on to dear old London. I’ve had a very good time…
The art of laziness
New York Living a life of pleasure is fun, but it can also become tiresome. Living an ethical life of…
Is Klaus Schwab the greatest threat of our time?
New York Alexandra rang me from London to enquire about a man by the name of Klaus Schwab: ‘He sounds…
The day Elizabeth Taylor kidnapped my daughter
New York Back in the good old days the Carlyle Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side was the hotel for…
The glory days of Central Park
I celebrate two Easters every year, the Catholic one and the Orthodox one, which means I get very drunk on…
The sad demise of Brooks Brothers
New York Our own Douglas Murray is the canary in the Bagel coal mine as of late. The left controls…
The age-old story of strongmen
The only good news, after the massacres in Ukraine, is that so many ugly behemoth super-yachts have been seized and…
The art of the witty riposte
One hundred or so years ago, a down-in-the-dumps Joseph Roth wrote to Stefan Zweig: ‘The barbarians have taken over.’ Later…
My lack of schadenfreude worries me
Something has been bothering me of late, and that is my total lack of schadenfreude. The malicious pleasure at someone’s…
In praise of amateurs
Two weeks ago in St Moritz I ran into both Nicolas Niarchos and Nikolai von Bismarck, two talented young men…
The folly of Nato enlargement
If western universities were not brimming with leftist professors, the present situation in Ukraine would surprise no one. History would…
The books that made me who I am
Gstaad This is my last week in the Alps and I’m trying to get it all in – skiing, cross-country,…
St Moritz is unique among ski resorts
St Moritz Once upon a time, not that long ago, St Moritz was the world’s greatest resort, an exclusive winter…
