My London: Twiggy

Home is…

Kensington. It’s been our home [with actor husband Leigh Lawson] for 37 years — it’s the best borough.

Which shops do you rely on?

As a general great store, it’s got to be Selfridges because you can get everything there. You can go in the morning and stay there all day, couldn’t you? Well, I could. You can shop, then you can eat, then shop, then have coffee and cakes. I think the first time I’d have gone is with my mum as a kid. I grew up in north-west London, so to go up to the West End was a treat.

Best meal you’ve had?

The one that really stands out is when it was announced that I was to be damed, just before Christmas in 2018. My husband arranged a surprise to celebrate — he took me, my daughter and my stepson to The Ritz on New Year’s Day in 2019. Oh my goodness! I think it’s the most beautiful dining room in London. It’s like going back in time and it’s lovely because we don’t get dressed up any more. We all dressed up in our lovely clothes and they had a band that played. It was gorgeous. And delicious food. I hadn’t actually got my medals! But they were imminent.

What’s your first memory of London?

I grew up in the suburbs, in Neasden. But if you’re talking about central London, when I was six I painted a picture of the Queen going for a walk at school. It was sent into a children’s art competition and I came in as one of the winners, and we were all invited to a big party in The Dorchester in Park Lane. I have vivid memories of that, because I wore a pink party dress, my favourite. It was pink chiffon with flowers on. Oh, I loved that dress. Me and Mum came up on the bus and into the The Dorchester. To me as a six-year-old, well you can imagine, it was like walking into a palace.

Where was your first flat?

I was about 18 and it was in Notting Hill, of course. In the Sixties it was much funkier — it’s got quite posh now, hasn’t it? It was the top two floors of one of those big Victorian houses, with a boyfriend. There is one piece of furniture I remember which is so Sixties — one of those bucket chairs in Perspex. It was so new and modern then. Only problem is, when you got in it was very hard to get out.

Where do you go to let your hair down?

If you are referring to clubs and things, I don’t do that. I never have actually.

Where would you recommend for a first date?

To go and watch the sunset from Waterloo Bridge. On a day that you can actually see the sunset, obviously. It’s gorgeous, very romantic. You can watch that, maybe take a little flask of champagne or something and then toddle off to a nice restaurant. That view over the bridge is so beautiful. I think that’s why Ray Davies wrote ‘Waterloo Sunset’. It’s a good song, I recorded that on one of my albums actually.

If you could buy any building in London and live there, which would it be?

Oh yeah, I’ve got one. It’s brilliant. Leighton House in Holland Park, oh my God. It was built by the most wonderful Pre-Raphaelite painter called Sir Frederic Leighton, and I am a nut for Pre-Raphaelite painters. He did that amazing one called Flaming June, you know with the orange dress. But the house is amazing. I mean it’s a museum obviously and not for sale, but in fantasy we could. I would live there very happily!

What’s your biggest extravagance?

I haven’t got many, but every two or three weeks I get my nails done. And every two to three months I have my hair highlighted, because I’m not a natural blonde, you see! That’s my spoiling me time.

Twiggy’s ‘Tea with Twiggy’ podcast series 3 is out now