Hilary Devey's My London

The millionaire 'dragon' loves Shoreditch, smoking and the skate at Sea Shell

REX Features

6 July 2012

Home is...
At the bottom of Edgware Road, near Marble Arch. I love the area because it’s central and very multicultural.

Favourite shops?
For clothes, I do Harrods, Selfridges and John Lewis. I go to Starbucks opposite me on Edgware Road for my daily latte and for a good meal I like The Ivy in Soho.

Best for a first date?
Scott’s in Mayfair is a beautiful restaurant with an amazing ambience, and offers fun people-watching opportunities.

Most romantic thing someone’s done for you?
I’m not really into romance, to be honest. I don’t have very good taste in men.

Earliest London memory?
When I was 22 I worked in the rag trade, which was centred around Great Titchfield Street, Marlborough Street, Bruton Street and Mount Street. I remember it feeling very huge and very crowded.

Last album you downloaded?
In My Dreams by Military Wives.

Which building would you like to live in?
No 1 London, on Hyde Park Corner. I love the location.

Where do you go to let your hair down?
Skin Oasis on George Street.

First thing you do when you get home after travelling?
Have a day’s rest and then take a little trip down to Knightsbridge, Oxford Street or Camden Town to shop, browse and soak up the atmosphere.

How would you like the opening line of your obituary to read?
‘She tried and she succeeded.’

At the moment you are...
Filming my documentary Women on Top.

Who are your heroes?
Our Royal Family; they do a fantastic ambassadorial job for Great Britain.

What do you collect?
I have collected Royal Albert china for some years, as well as Lampe Berger fragrance lamps, which I adore.

What animal would you like to be?
I’d like to be one of my little Yorkshire terriers because they are so adorable.

What would you do as Mayor for the day?
Improve the smoking ban so that smokers could be accommodated indoors. I hate seeing cigarette butts on the street.

Best meal?
Skate from Sea Shell of Lisson Grove.

Favourite London discoveries?
Shoreditch High Street, which used to be terrible but has now metamorphosed into a very attractive shopping area. I like to browse there.

Who do you call to have fun?
All work and no play has made Hilary a very tired, dull girl. I don’t have much time for fun.

Biggest extravagance?
Clothes, shoes and handbags from Alexander McQueen, Prada and Chanel.

Best for a nightcap?
No Ten Manchester Street, because it has a smoking terrace.

Best building to be locked in overnight?
Harrods or Selfridges would be my preferred places for a nocturnal incarceration.

Best thing a London cabbie has ever said to you?
‘I know you, don’t I, love?’ I quite enjoy being recognised if people have seen me on TV and taken something constructive or useful from it.