A literary walk through London’s Mayfair

Experience

By Juliet Kinsman

April 18, 2024

Londoner Juliet Kinsman follows in the footsteps of a literary hero – from the West End to Hyde Park

Mayfair is at the heart of London, with stories on every corner – many involving Oscar Wilde, the Victorian literary sensation. It may have been 170 years since the playwright, poet and bon viveur was born, but his influence and inspiration are still felt in this distinguished capital, and his plays remain part of Theatreland’s repertoire.

‘The only possible form of exercise is to talk, not walk,’ Wilde once said, but you can do both on a self-guided tour of central London that will take you from Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, London – recently opened in Hanover Square – to Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London in around half an hour.

Hanover Square W1

Steeped in history, Hanover Square was named in honour of the coronation of George I (a reference to the British king also being ruler of the Electorate of Hanover). Among its handsome townhouses stands the 18th-century St George’s Church, referenced in Wilde’s short story The Canterville Ghost. Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, married Olive Eleanor Custance here in 1902.

Liberty

Our next stop is Liberty, which has reigned over Regent Street since 1875. Wilde hailed this upmarket mock-Tudor department store as 'the chosen resort of the artistic shopper’ – the sartorially minded playwright's description is still perfect for this quintessential grande dame of concept stores.

Marlborough Street Magistrates Court W1

In the courthouse that once occupied numbers 19–21, Wilde took the Marquess of Queensbury to court for libel – the start of the writer’s downfall and the path to his imprisonment for gross indecency. His last six months in the city were spent behind bars, before he was sent to Reading prison. After that, he headed to France, never to return to Britain, eventually dying of meningitis in Paris aged just 46.

*Photo credit: The Blowup

Brook Street W1

Look for the blue plaques as you pass by 23 and 25 Brook Street, where Jimi Hendrix and George Frideric Handel were neighbours, albeit 200 years apart. At number 69, the Savile Club once counted Robbie Ross as a member: Wilde’s devoted friend, lover and literary executor. ‘I love London society,’ quipped the writer. ‘It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics.’

Albemarle Street W1

Once the location of the Albemarle Club, which opened in 1874, welcoming men and women – unusual for the time. Wilde and his wife Constance were regulars, though it was also the scene of the illicit trysts that sparked gossip about his sexuality. As he put it in his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray: ‘There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.’ After his trial, the club felt its reputation had been ruined, so it relocated to Dover Street in 1909 before closing permanently in 1941. But Albemarle Street is still worth a stroll for its array of elegant galleries, such as John Martin.

Dunraven Street W1

Between 1877 and 1880, actress and socialite Lillie Langtry – mistress to King Edward VII – lived in a red-brick townhouse, where no.19 Dunraven Street now stands. Oscar Wilde once said of his muse: ‘I would rather have discovered Mrs Langtry than to have discovered America.’

66 Knightsbridge SW1

The apartments built here in Queen Victoria’s time are now the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, which is where the walk ends.In time for a glass of champagne in Wilde’s honour at the Mandarin Bar, perhaps? He would surely have approved of supper, too, at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. As the playwright said, ‘If you can dominate a London dinner table, you can dominate the world.’

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About the Author

Juliet Kinsman

Juliet Kinsman is a sustainable luxury travel writer, Condé Nast Travellers’s first sustainability editor and author of our Sustainability Report. The driving force behind the Evening Standard's sustainable travel channel and host of their award-winning podcast, she's written and edited many guidebooks for London and beyond.