There was actually trigger to rejoice at 32 Portland Place final week, the £15 million west London mansion owned by Edward Davenport. The self-described “flamboyant entrepreneur”, also called “Quick Eddie”, received a court docket battle to cease police from shutting down events at his house. “Combating. Gained. Freedom to social gathering,” the 58-year-old wrote on Instagram after the decision was introduced.
“I’m delighted,” he tells me by cellphone from his “penthouse house in Bangkok” the place he now spends half his time. Davenport flew again to Thailand from London, having efficiently challenged the closure order – which might have stopped anybody who wasn’t dwelling on the property from coming into it.
Met Police have reportedly been dispatched to the deal with 63 occasions over the previous few years, after dozens of complaints from neighbours about extreme noise, allegations of drug taking, vomiting on the street and parking points. Davenport’s lawyer argued in court docket that there was a “tradition distinction between a party-goer” like Davenport and the neighbours who complained.
“I’m any person who likes to exit and entertain,” he says. “Certainly one of my neighbours is a company lawyer, one other chap stated he works 14 hours a day and wishes quiet. I needed to combat this case for everybody’s proper to social gathering. Lots of people purchase these homes for enormous quantities of cash and go away them empty and no-one’s allowed to see them or take pleasure in them. Quantity 28 is empty, Quantity 30 is an empty workplace, Quantity 34 is the Polish consulate nevertheless it’s at the moment empty. I’ve been on Portland Place for greater than 30 years and I need folks to have the ability to have enjoyable.”
To say Davenport “likes to exit” is sort of the understatement. The son of a profitable restaurateur, he was educated on the progressive boarding faculty Frensham Heights, in Surrey, and commenced promoting garments on a market stall at Portobello Street, in Notting Hill. At simply 16, he started organising “Gatecrasher Balls” – decadent events for public faculty pupils at plush nation homes, comparable to Longleat in Wiltshire – and claims to have made his first million in his early twenties.
Friends at one among Davenport’s Gatecrasher Balls in 1988 – Shutterstock
However in 1990, aged 24, he was jailed for nine-months for failing to cost VAT for his tickets at Gatecrasher. He served simply 16 days of his sentence. Requested by Tatler magazine how he coped with two weeks in jail, Davenport quipped: “Boring. There aren’t many events there.”
After his launch, he went into property growth, controversially buying 33 Portland Place, the previous embassy of Sierra Leone, on the top of the nation’s civil conflict. He allegedly tricked the excessive commissioner into promoting him the lease for simply £50,000. He later obtained the freehold for £3.75 million.
Inbuilt 1775 by neoclassical architect Robert Adam, the luxurious house boasted 24-bedrooms, a jacuzzi, a ballroom and London’s solely hydraulic wall. Davenport rented it out as a venue for events and movie shoots – Kate Moss shot an Agent Provocateur marketing campaign there, Amy Winehouse made her Rehab video within the billiards room, and it featured as a location within the 2010 Oscar-winning movie The King’s Speech.
A gathering on the home in 2005, organised by the Rothschild household, was attended by Princes William and Harry. On his web site, Davenport boasts of rubbing shoulders with superstar associates, comparable to David Beckham, Naomi Campbell and 50 Cent. At one level, his wealth was estimated at £102 million and he claimed to personal a non-public jet and an unlimited assortment of sports activities automobiles.
From 2005 onwards, the home hosted Killing Kittens occasions, upmarket hedonistic “grownup” occasions organised by Kate Middleton’s school friend, Emma Sayle.
Davenport’s house at 32 Portland Place, London W1 – Andrew Crowley
Davenport additionally hosted a 300-strong intercourse social gathering referred to as Passing Fancies. “I began doing KK and Passing Fancies as a result of it was a beautiful option to meet folks,” says Davenport. “It was a extremely implausible crowd. Persons are suspicious of intercourse events and suppose it means medicine and loud music however, actually, it’s fairly the alternative. Folks don’t need the music blaring as they wish to hear one another.”
It was round this time that he began styling himself “Lord Davenport” after claiming to have received the proper to make use of a title from a property he as soon as owned in Shropshire. “I’m fairly formidable. I’ve received a whole lot of associates. I reside fairly a giant way of life,” he stated in 2008. “I’ve received a really good flat in Monaco, so it’s a must to have some huge cash coming in to maintain this going.”
However in 2009, he was arrested and charged with conspiracy to acquire cash by deception, conspiracy to commit fraud by false illustration, and cash laundering. Utilizing the alias James Stewart, Davenport had conned over 50 victims out of hundreds of thousands, together with Elizabeth Emanuel, designer of Princess Diana’s marriage ceremony costume, who misplaced her financial savings after being promised a £1 million mortgage. Davenport denied all fees whereas the Severe Fraud Workplace constructed the case in opposition to him.
In the meantime, the lavish events at his pad continued and, in 2010, Westminster Metropolis Council introduced authorized motion in opposition to Davenport, charging him with breaching a noise abatement order. The case was dismissed and Davenport was awarded £28,000 in prices.
Then the council introduced an motion on the Excessive Court docket claiming that Davenport’s use of the property breached planning permission as Davenport had stuffed a swimming pool with 1,000 litres of cognac. This turned out to have been a publicity stunt for a US drinks model, however a Excessive Court docket decide issued a everlasting ban on using the home for non-residential functions.
In any case, Davenport’s partying days gave the impression to be accomplished. In 2011, he was sentenced to seven years eight months in Wandsworth Jail for fraud.
’Quick Eddie’ outdoors Southwark Crown Court docket throughout his fraud trial in 2011 – Heathcliff O’Malley
He was launched after three years due to well being considerations – he went on to have two kidney transplants. Whereas on bail, Davenport wore an ankle tag below the trouser leg of his Savile Row-tailored William Hunt fits. “You may’t win all of them,” Davenport says, once I ask him about his time in jail. He denies any wrongdoing.
In 2015, he was pressured to promote 33 Portland Place for £25 million to pay the Severe Fraud Workplace a £14 million Compensation and Confiscation Order. (It was purchased by David Sullivan, the chairman of West Ham United, and is at the moment available on the market for £65 million.) However the social gathering wasn’t over – Davenport then purchased the home throughout the highway – 32 Portland Place – the place the wild nights continued.
“He was like a Hugh Hefner determine, skulking round in a pink velvet smoking jacket,” recollects Deborah, who attended a celebration at 32 Portland Place in 2019. “All the ladies have been in lingerie and males have been in fits. The home itself was fairly naked and dilapidated, however I bear in mind one room had a giant white marble hearth, and the basement had poles for ladies to bounce on. There was additionally a VIP ‘Get together Room’ the place folks have been having intercourse.”
However attendees to events at 32 Portland Place haven’t at all times had fun. Eventually week’s court docket case it was revealed that there had been two allegations of rape on the home. The newest occurred in July, and is at the moment below investigation, whereas the opposite was dropped as a result of an absence of proof.
Events organized by Davenport have additionally been linked to 2 murders, together with that of bouncer Tudor Simionov, killed when he tried to cease gatecrashers from attending a celebration at a Park Lane house in 2019. Three males have been jailed for the 33-year-old’s homicide the next 12 months.
A second incident, which happened in Lewisham however concerned friends believed to have attended one among Davenport’s events, is at the moment being investigated.
Davenport is claimed to ‘skulk’ round his events in a velvet smoking jacket within the model of Hugh Hefner – Tony Buckingham/Shutterstock
Not one of the incidents contain Davenport personally. “That occurred seven miles away from my home, it simply so occurred that the particular person concerned had been there sooner or later within the evening,” he says.
Now Davenport says he solely hosts “artwork salons” at quantity 32 – small gatherings of 100 folks which finish round midnight, the place artists can exhibit their work and community.
The massive events he throws nowadays are in Thailand. On his Instagram account, Davenport calls himself “Daddy” and recurrently posts movies of himself partying and pouring bottles into the mouths of younger Thai girls.
Davenport has by no means married and claims to be “dedicated [to] partying and socialising”. It’s actually been a vibrant life for “Lord Fraud” – because the tabloids name him. Does he have any regrets? “No, it’s all been good enjoyable,” he insists. “If there was no threat it might be boring.”
Though he’s practically 60, he says he has no plans for retirement and says he likes the “Quick Eddie” moniker. “Nicely, it’s higher than ‘Gradual Eddie’,” he says.
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