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circles were concerned. This was underlined by the Queen’s Press Secretary, Commander
Colville, who took the trouble to motor down to London airport to meet Parker in order
to deliver an unwelcoming message. ‘Hello, Parker,’ he said, ‘I’ve just come to let you
know that from now on, you’re on your own.’
Parker’s sacrifice did not save the Duke from the repercussions. In fact it prompted a
national wave of sentiment in his favour reminiscent of what Time called ‘the emotional
binge’ over the outcome of the Townsend affair. ‘Why’, the Daily Express (owned by Lord
Beaver-brook, always happy to pursue a long-standing vendetta against the royal
family) demanded, ‘should a broken marriage be a disqualification for royal service’
when the twice-married Eden had until recently been the Queen’s First Minister? Gossip
columnists digging into Parker’s past – and Philip’s – came up with the Thursday Club
organized by the top society photographer, Baron, who was inevitably described as
‘court photographer’. The Thursday Club was an informal luncheon club, which met in
an upstairs room at Wheeler’s Restaurant in Old Compton Street; the restaurant’s
proprietor, Bernard Walsh, was one of its founder members. Members included
journalists like Arthur Christiansen, editor of the Daily Express, and Frank Owen, editor
of the Daily Mail; actors like James Robertson Justice, David Niven and Peter Ustinov;
and humorists like Patrick Campbell and Larry Adler. Another member was Don
Stewart, the left-wing scriptwriter exiled from Hollywood in the McCarthyite purges,
who once lay down on the pavement beside a pigeon and asked it, ‘Got any messages?’
The brilliant Conservative politician Iain Macleod was a guest who later became a
member, while other more shady people who appeared from time to time included
Stephen Ward, later to become notorious during the Profumo scandal, and the spy Kim
Philby. It was a typically all-male affair with no purpose beyond starting the weekend
early. The members ate fish and drank Wheeler’s house white wine and the atmosphere,
according to one member, was of ‘high spirits stimulated by the brilliance of the back
chat’, funny stories, barracking and dirty talk.
The animating spirit and original founder of the Thursday Club, Baron Henry Stirling
Nahum (always known simply by his first name), was a colourful figure in London
society. He was the descendant of Italian Jews from Tripoli who settled in Manchester,
where they founded a business in the cotton trade. Baron and his twin brother, Jack, a
barrister, had both achieved successful careers for themselves in London. Baron made his
name in 1936 with a picture of Larry Adler, described by Peter Ustinov as ‘the
harmonica genius and infant prodigy’. Baron was an amusing, charming, swashbuckling
figure who liked women, ballet and fast cars. He was something of a fantasist with a
passion for royalty; his friend Peter Ustinov described him as ‘an individualist with the
seeds of Walter Mitty in his youthful soul’. He met Philip at Broadlands in 1947 when he
was photographing the Mountbattens; Philip invited him to take his own wedding
pictures and within a short time they were friends. Baron introduced Philip, his cousin
David Milford Haven, and Parker to a social circle in London which was as far removed
as it was possible to be from Philip’s royal in-laws’ ‘tweedy’ and ultra-respectable
friends. He was an enthusiastic party-giver – his fancy-dress party on New Year’s Eve at