Maybe it’s just that everyone is getting their pricey plans through the starting gate before the spending-cut axe falls, but London does seem to have gone revamp happy recently.


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Tower Bridge is to become an advertising hoarding, Battersea Power Station has taken the first step towards redevelopment and new super-fast Eurostar trains are hurtling down the track.

But the classiest rebirth was at The Savoy with this week’s grand re-opening after a three-year, £220M refit. Stephen Fry declared himself “outrageously lucky to be the new Savoy’s first guest”. A previous famous guest was Fry’s hero, Oscar Wilde, who conducted his legendary affairs there.

Revamps can be personal, too, of course. Madonna has announced her intention to move back to London, while George Michael is safe at home following a stint enjoying Her Majesty’s pleasure; the Queen of England that is, not the Queen of Pop.

So, to recap, that’s Stephen Fry, George Michael, Oscar Wilde and a couple of old Queens, not to mention a TOWER, a LONG TUNNEL and a POWER STATION.

No wonder it was National Coming Out Day on 12 October, a personal new start if ever there was one. Funnily enough, the rest of the world had it the day before. Bravo! Them’s the kind of “No, after you” manners we’d want our Savoy-staying men about town to re-invent.