Pearson John - The Gamblers

JOHN PEARSON

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Epub ISBN 9781446494714

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Published in the United Kingdom by Arrow Books in 2007

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Copyright John Pearson 2005

John Pearson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

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First published in the United Kingdom in 2005 by Century

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ISBN 9780099461180

About the Author

John Pearsons Career as a biographer includes books on the Churchills, the Windsors, the Gettys and the Sitwells. He has also written an award-winning travel book on Timbuctoo, a bestselling biography of Ian Fleming and the authorised biography of James Bond. However, he is probably best known for his two in-depth studies of the Kray Twins, and is currently working on the final part of his Kray trilogy.

I have a notion that Gamblers are as happy as most people being always excited. Women, wine, fame, the table, even Ambition, sate now and then; but every turn of the card, and cast of the dice, keeps the gamester alive: besides, one can game ten times longer than one can do anything else

Lord Byron

All of life is sixfour against

Damon Runyon

Acknowledgements

When I started working on this book, I saw it as a chronicle of the rise and fall of the so-called Clermont Set and, as such, a fascinating part of the social history of the Sixties and early Seventies. Certainly the last thing I foresaw was getting involved in the story of what did or didnt happen to Lord Lucan. But books have a strange way of asserting an existence of their own, and quite early on in my research I began to realise how profoundly that mysterious event came to dominate the lives of those around him. More than that it was obviously so bound up with the weird conclusion of my story that I had to take account of it. In the process, I reached what I believed to be the closest we will ever get to answering this enduring mystery.

But I must emphasize that the original purpose of this book remains, and I like to think that it is something more than a simple murder mystery. I can only say that in writing it I became fascinated by the lives and the obsessions of an extraordinary group bound so powerfully together by the everlasting force of gambling and much besides.

In the process I was helped by many who have helped me. Among them I would like to thank Anthony Alfrey, Lady Sally Aspinall, Sir David Attenborough, Al Alvarez, Melissa Bakewell, John Burke, Mark Birley, Robin Birley, Richard Compton Miller, Sarah Carr, Willie Donaldson, Peter Elwes, James Fox, Walter Felgate, Michael Gillard, Anne Halsey, Roy Houghton, Sue Hunt, Max Hastings, Richard Ingrams, Tessa Kennedy, Louis Jebb, Sir Dai Llewellyn, Anthony Little, the late David Leitch, Dominick Midgley, the late Susie Maxwell-Scott, George Monbiot, Euan Macleod, Lord Oaksey, James Osborne, Helen Pennant-Rea, James Saunders, Archie Stirling, Taki Theodoracopulos, Jane Telling, Tim Thomas, Hugo Vickers, George Valentini, Margaret Vyner, Melissa Wyndham, and Athena Zographos.

Among others who have made this book possible, I must also thank my director of studies, Wendie McWatters, my agent Michael Sissons, my publisher, Mark Booth and his heroic assistant, Kate Watkins and Amanda Russell. Brian Eke has saved my sanity over my computer, Hugh Bashaarat has been endlessly kind and understanding, and Ted Green, though very old, has been always there when I needed him. Edda Tasiemka and her magical archive has as ever been a wondrous source of information.

Lastly I must thank my wife, Lynette, who has helped, endured, and contributed more to the writing of this book than she will ever know.

For Lynette,
Yet again and for ever.

Also available by John Pearson

Non-fiction

Bluebird and the Dead Lake

The Persuasion Industry (with Graham Turner)

The Life of Ian Fleming

Arena: The Story of the Colosseum

The Profession of Violence

Edward the Rake

Faades: Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell

Stags and Serpents: The Cavendish Dukes of Devonshire

The Ultimate Family: The Making of the House of Windsor

Citadel of the Heart: Winston and the Churchill Dynasty

Painfully Rich: J. Paul Getty and His Heirs

Blood Royal: The Story of the Spencers and the Royals

The Cult of Violence

One of the Family: The Englishman and the Mafia

Fiction

Gone to Timbuctoo

The Life of James Bond

The Kindness of Dr Avicenna

Gone With the Wind

YOU REMEMBER GONEWith the Wind? said Dai Llewellyn. He was in reminiscent mode, as he often is these days. I nodded.

You may recall that following the opening credits, two sentences were flashed upon the screen explaining what the film was all about. A civilisation vanished overnight. Everything gone with the wind. Since you ask, thats how I feel about the Clermont Club and the Lucky Lucan episode. It wasnt just the murder of the nanny Sandra Rivett and what did or didnt happen to Lucky afterwards. I knew him, of course. Quite well. Used to play backgammon with him. Good backgammon player, but I cant say I liked him. Never had. Dull dog. Drank too much, but that was not the point. Nor was it whether he had or hadnt killed the unfortunate nanny. For me what counted was that from the moment of the murder, everything that had made the Clermont Club unique vanished. Not just the gambling but the people, and a way of life, all suddenly swept away.

I remember coming here in the afternoon after it occurred. The murder was already making front-page headlines in the early editions of the evening papers, and this whole place, which was normally buzzing with people after lunch, was empty as a sinking ship. Few of them returned. A society, and a very interesting one, had gone with the wind.

When all this happened back in November 1974, the handsome young Dai Llewellyn was social secretary of the Clermont Club in Berkeley Square. The baronet son of the Olympic champion showjumper, Sir Harry Llewellyn, and brother of Roddy Llewellyn, Princess Margarets lover, he remains a bon viveur, a confirmed gambler, and a great survivor. Now, thirty years later, he was taking me to see the club as it is today to watch the gambling.

Even to me it was obvious at once that this was a very different world from the one that he remembered. The dinner-jacketed croupiers, most of them trained in France, had long since gone. In their place impassive girls in black silk dresses dealt out coloured gaming counters, paid the winners and raked back the losers counters for the house.