This is Sloane Square and that's King's Road
and it's called King's Road because in the old days
when the palace was at Westminster this was the road that led to Hampton Court
and you needed a King's pass to travel from the palace up to Hampton Court
a lot of people around here are called Sloanes
well they were in my day
I think these days they just call them.........
rich.
and that Royal Court Theatre over there
In one of the early Columbo episodes, Columbo goes in there and solves a murder
It looked really looked really dirty and grimey back then
we're talking early 70s
It's quite sad of me but I really like the fact that Columbo has walked down this alley
Also it's quite appropriate that I'm wearing this hat because this which is now McDonalds
used to be the Chelsea drugstore from the famous Rolling Stones song
I went down to the Chelsea Drugstore, to get my fair share of abuse
You can't always get what you want
and they also shot some of A Clockwork Orange in there
Along from McDonalds is Wellington Square just off Kings Road
and in the James Bond books by Ian Fleming
He describes Bond as living in a small plane tree-lined street off Kings Road
which is possibly this one or it could be Royal Avenue over there
but I reckon this is a Bond type square
Very humble place...a humble dwelling
a lot of famous people lived around this area
Down in Tite Street is where Oscar Wilde lived
So here at number 430 Kings Road
is the famous shop that used to be called Let It Rock
it was opened by Vivienne Westwood and Malcom McClaren back in the early 70s
and that's exactly where they launched the Sex Pistols from in 1975
This used to be called Sex or Seditionaries
now it's called World's End, it's the most famous shop on Kings Road, it's number 430
It's owned by Vivienne Westwood
Adam Ant...everyone comes in here, Blondie still comes here
Cass, from Skunkanansie
Hi Cass from Skunkanansie!
Very famous shop with very famous visitors
That's the mountain hat from the 80s
Looks like the one Boy George wears
That's the same era
Hand made in London
The Alice in Wonderland store, very tiny
but very powerful and really influential in the history of London fashion
also with Galliano and McQueen Vivienne is a clear influence on them as well.
Visit us!
I really do feel like Gulliver in here, that is massive
That would suit you
It's a man's shirt, the Sex Pistols wore this
After you walk down Royal Avenue
just around the corner is Tite Street
Someone's obviously tried to turn it into Tit Street
How hilarious
As I expected there's a blue plaque because this is where Oscar Wilde lived
It used to be a street famous for artists which is possibly where he got the idea for
The Picture of Dorian Gray, because of all these people coming and going with
big frames of paintings and easels
Oscar Wilde lived here until 1895 when he was arrested for
"Posing as a sodomite"
It was quite sad because I think it was here that his wife fell down the stairs
and broke her back,
and she later died
Not a lot of people know
or think about the fact that Oscar Wilde was actually married
but we've been to his wife's cemetery in Genoa, Staglieno cemetery
another video available on Joolz Guides Youtube channel
There was one particular bloke called James Whistler
who was a famous artist who lived in this street
and was always having these run-ins with Oscar Wilde
and it was he who said to Oscar Wilde when they were at a party famously
They overheard someone make a witty remark
and Oscar Wilde said to Mr Whistler,
"I wish I had said that"
and James Whistler said, "You will, Oscar. You will."
Do you have a favourite Oscar Wilde aphorism?
Here at number 152 Kings Road
is the pheasantry
called the pheasantry because they actually used to have a pheasant shop he many years ago
and if you wanted a nice plump birdthis was where to come
I have to confess my ignorance I don't know what a pheasant looks like but
that ain't one of them
This is King Charles' old hunting lodge
Hence the road being called Kings Road
So the picture up there is of King Charles
It is indeed
Which King Charles?
King Charles ll
It's changed quite a lot over the years
it's got this rather peculiar Greek feel to it
and more modern Pizza Express architecture
In 1915 a lady called Eleanor Thornton drowned
and she was a model and used to hang out here because it used to be studios
she is the model on which they based the spirit of ecstacy on the front of the Rolls Royce
There's a connection with me because I had to re-sculpt the spirit of ecstacy for the new Rolls Royce BMW
She stood up in the car and she was wearing some fancy dress and it was billowing in the wind
and that's where the guy got the idea to sculpt the icon.
In the 1960s
it then became studio flats upstairs
and a pretty trendy nightclub downstairs
and this is where Eric Clapton had to escape out of a bedroom window
when there was a drugs raid by the police..and it's now a Pizza Express
One day, someone, not us, 100 years from now
a guy in a bowler hat will be here going
"remember this used to be a Pizza Express"
No you're joking! That's amazing!
And that's why they never knocked it down..because of that fact