When Chris Pincher MP was revealed earlier this year to have drunkenly groped two men at “a London club”, the location of the outrage was soon revealed. It was the Carlton in St James’s, founded in 1832 by Tory peers and MPs after their defeat in the Reform Act.
This didn’t always guarantee it a reputation for moral rigor. As Seth Thévoz, the author of the new book Behind Closed Doors: The Secret Life of London Private Members’ Clubs, told a newspaper, the groping area has long been known as “Cads’ Corner” because men could peer up the skirts of female guests as they climbed the staircase. And the club has often been considered a haven of ambitious fortune-seekers. On his deathbed, the Duke of Wellington said his two great lessons in life were: “Never write a letter to your mistress, and never join the Carlton Club.”
