There was definitely trigger to rejoice at 32 Portland Place final week, the £15 million west London mansion owned by Edward Davenport. The self-described “flamboyant entrepreneur”, also referred to as “Quick Eddie”, received a courtroom battle to cease police from shutting down events at his dwelling. “Combating. Received. Freedom to occasion,” the 58-year-old wrote on Instagram after the decision was introduced.
“I’m delighted,” he tells me by cellphone from his “penthouse condominium in Bangkok” the place he now spends half his time. Davenport flew again to Thailand from London, having efficiently challenged the closure order – which might have stopped anybody who wasn’t residing on the property from coming into it.
Met Police have reportedly been dispatched to the tackle 63 occasions over the previous couple of years, after dozens of complaints from neighbours about extreme noise, allegations of drug taking, vomiting on the street and parking points. Davenport’s lawyer argued in courtroom that there was a “tradition distinction between a party-goer” like Davenport and the neighbours who complained.
“I’m any individual who likes to exit and entertain,” he says. “One in all my neighbours is a company lawyer, one other chap mentioned he works 14 hours a day and wishes quiet. I needed to struggle this case for everybody’s proper to occasion. Lots of people purchase these homes for enormous quantities of cash and go away them empty and no-one’s allowed to see them or get pleasure from them. Quantity 28 is empty, Quantity 30 is an empty workplace, Quantity 34 is the Polish consulate however it’s at the moment empty. I’ve been on Portland Place for greater than 30 years and I need individuals to have the ability to have enjoyable.”
To say Davenport “likes to exit” is sort of the understatement. The son of a profitable restaurateur, he was educated on the progressive boarding college Frensham Heights, in Surrey, and started promoting garments on a market stall at Portobello Highway, in Notting Hill. At simply 16, he started organising “Gatecrasher Balls” – decadent events for public college pupils at plush nation homes, equivalent to Longleat in Wiltshire – and claims to have made his first million in his early twenties.
Friends at one in every of Davenport’s Gatecrasher Balls in 1988 – Shutterstock
However in 1990, aged 24, he was jailed for nine-months for failing to cost VAT for his tickets at Gatecrasher. He served simply 16 days of his sentence. Requested by Tatler journal how he coped with two weeks in jail, Davenport quipped: “Boring. There aren’t many events there.”
After his launch, he went into property growth, controversially buying 33 Portland Place, the previous embassy of Sierra Leone, on the peak of the nation’s civil conflict. He allegedly tricked the excessive commissioner into promoting him the lease for simply £50,000. He later obtained the freehold for £3.75 million.
Inbuilt 1775 by neoclassical architect Robert Adam, the luxurious dwelling boasted 24-bedrooms, a jacuzzi, a ballroom and London’s solely hydraulic wall. Davenport rented it out as a venue for events and movie shoots – Kate Moss shot an Agent Provocateur marketing campaign there, Amy Winehouse made her Rehab video within the billiards room, and it featured as a location within the 2010 Oscar-winning movie The King’s Speech.
A gathering on the home in 2005, organised by the Rothschild household, was attended by Princes William and Harry. On his web site, Davenport boasts of rubbing shoulders with celeb mates, equivalent to David Beckham, Naomi Campbell and 50 Cent. At one level, his wealth was estimated at £102 million and he claimed to personal a personal jet and an unlimited assortment of sports activities vehicles.
From 2005 onwards, the home hosted Killing Kittens occasions, upmarket hedonistic “grownup” occasions organised by Kate Middleton’s college buddy, Emma Sayle.
Davenport’s dwelling at 32 Portland Place, London W1 – Andrew Crowley
Davenport additionally hosted a 300-strong intercourse occasion known as Passing Fancies. “I began doing KK and Passing Fancies as a result of it was a beautiful approach to meet individuals,” says Davenport. “It was a extremely implausible crowd. Individuals are suspicious of intercourse events and assume it means medication and loud music however, the truth is, it’s fairly the alternative. Individuals don’t need the music blaring as they wish to hear one another.”
It was round this time that he began styling himself “Lord Davenport” after claiming to have received the best to make use of a title from a property he as soon as owned in Shropshire. “I’m fairly bold. I’ve acquired a variety of mates. I reside fairly an enormous way of life,” he mentioned in 2008. “I’ve acquired a really good flat in Monaco, so you must have some huge cash coming in to maintain this going.”
However in 2009, he was arrested and charged with conspiracy to acquire cash by deception, conspiracy to commit fraud by false illustration, and cash laundering. Utilizing the alias James Stewart, Davenport had conned over 50 victims out of tens of millions, together with Elizabeth Emanuel, designer of Princess Diana’s marriage ceremony costume, who misplaced her financial savings after being promised a £1 million mortgage. Davenport denied all fees whereas the Critical Fraud Workplace constructed the case towards him.
In the meantime, the lavish events at his pad continued and, in 2010, Westminster Metropolis Council introduced authorized motion towards Davenport, charging him with breaching a noise abatement order. The case was dismissed and Davenport was awarded £28,000 in prices.
Then the council introduced an motion on the Excessive Courtroom claiming that Davenport’s use of the property breached planning permission as Davenport had stuffed a swimming pool with 1,000 litres of cognac. This turned out to have been a publicity stunt for a US drinks model, however a Excessive Courtroom decide issued a everlasting ban on the usage of the home for non-residential functions.
In any case, Davenport’s partying days appeared to be accomplished. In 2011, he was sentenced to seven years eight months in Wandsworth Jail for fraud.
’Quick Eddie’ exterior Southwark Crown Courtroom throughout his fraud trial in 2011 – Heathcliff O’Malley
He was launched after three years due to well being considerations – he went on to have two kidney transplants. Whereas on bail, Davenport wore an ankle tag below the trouser leg of his Savile Row-tailored William Hunt fits. “You may’t win all of them,” Davenport says, once I ask him about his time in jail. He denies any wrongdoing.
In 2015, he was pressured to promote 33 Portland Place for £25 million to pay the Critical Fraud Workplace a £14 million Compensation and Confiscation Order. (It was purchased by David Sullivan, the chairman of West Ham United, and is at the moment in the marketplace for £65 million.) However the occasion wasn’t over – Davenport then purchased the home throughout the street – 32 Portland Place – the place the wild nights continued.
“He was like a Hugh Hefner determine, skulking round in a purple velvet smoking jacket,” recollects Deborah, who attended a celebration at 32 Portland Place in 2019. “All the ladies have been in lingerie and males have been in fits. The home itself was fairly naked and dilapidated, however I bear in mind one room had an enormous white marble fire, and the basement had poles for girls to bop on. There was additionally a VIP ‘Social gathering Room’ the place individuals have been having intercourse.”
However attendees to events at 32 Portland Place haven’t at all times had fun. Ultimately week’s courtroom case it was revealed that there had been two allegations of rape on the home. The latest occurred in July, and is at the moment below investigation, whereas the opposite was dropped as a result of a scarcity of proof.
Events organized by Davenport have additionally been linked to 2 murders, together with that of bouncer Tudor Simionov, killed when he tried to cease gatecrashers from attending a celebration at a Park Lane condominium in 2019. Three males have been jailed for the 33-year-old’s homicide the next 12 months.
A second incident, which passed off in Lewisham however concerned visitors believed to have attended one in every of Davenport’s events, is at the moment being investigated.
Davenport is alleged to ‘skulk’ round his events in a velvet smoking jacket within the fashion of Hugh Hefner – Tony Buckingham/Shutterstock
Not one of the incidents contain Davenport personally. “That occurred seven miles away from my home, it simply so occurred that the particular person concerned had been there sooner or later within the evening,” he says.
Now Davenport says he solely hosts “artwork salons” at quantity 32 – small gatherings of 100 individuals which finish round midnight, the place artists can exhibit their work and community.
The massive events he throws as of late are in Thailand. On his Instagram account, Davenport calls himself “Daddy” and commonly posts movies of himself partying and pouring bottles into the mouths of younger Thai girls.
Davenport has by no means married and claims to be “dedicated [to] partying and socialising”. It’s definitely been a vibrant life for “Lord Fraud” – because the tabloids name him. Does he have any regrets? “No, it’s all been good enjoyable,” he insists. “If there was no danger it could be boring.”
Though he’s almost 60, he says he has no plans for retirement and says he likes the “Quick Eddie” moniker. “Nicely, it’s higher than ‘Gradual Eddie’,” he says.
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