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Dinner, Diplomacy and America: The Lansdowne Club’s Anglo-American Chapter
The Lansdowne Club is not short of an American connection. Benjamin Franklin was a frequent guest at Lansdowne House, and it was here, in Lord Shelburne’s private study, that discussions took place during the negotiations that would lead to Britain’s recognition of the United States. This July, the Mayfair club marks 250 years of independence with two events for Luxury Restaurant Guide members.
If the current American psychodrama has you hooked, The Lansdowne Club is taking the long view.
This July, the Mayfair private members’ club is marking 250 years since American independence with two events for Luxury Restaurant Guide members: an evening of talk, champagne and dinner on 17 July, followed by a guided walk through London’s American connections and lunch back at the Club on 18 July.
The subject is not as random as it might first sound. Lansdowne House was once the London residence of Lord Shelburne, the Prime Minister who negotiated with Benjamin Franklin during the talks that led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and Britain’s recognition of the United States. Franklin, a good friend of Shelburne’s and a frequent guest at the house, met him here in what was then the private study, now the Club’s Round Room Bar. Its circular design is even said to have inspired the Oval Office.
The treaty itself is worth pausing on. Signed in Paris in 1783, it formally ended the American War of Independence and recognised the United States as “free sovereign and independent states”. Britain accepted the new republic’s borders and, with them, the fact that the old imperial order was over.
On Thursday 17 July, the Club hosts The Empire Strikes Back with military historian Lt Col the Revd Paul Wright LVO speaking during a three-course dinner with paired wines in the Shelburne Room. The evening begins with a champagne reception before dinner is served.
The following morning shifts from Berkeley Square to the wider city. Guests meet at 9am for coffee and pastries before joining Wright for a guided walk through the heart of London. The route takes in Trafalgar Square, St James’s Palace and Benjamin Franklin House before returning to The Lansdowne Club for lunch.
If, as Mark Carney suggests, the old order is changing, there is something apt about revisiting the moment Britain first had to come to terms with a new American reality. The Lansdowne Club now occupies one of the rooms in which part of that story was argued out. This July, it is opening that chapter to Luxury Restaurant Guide members.
The Lansdowne Club’s Anglo-American events at a glance
Thursday 17 July, from 7pm
The Empire Strikes Back: Lansdowne House and the Recognition of American Independence
Champagne reception, talk, three-course dinner and paired wines
£225 per person
Friday 18 July, from 9am
American Independence: A Guided Walk through the Heart of London
Coffee and pastries, guided walk, sabrage, visit to Benjamin Franklin House and two-course lunch
£200 per person
Book both events: £400 per person
Enquire Now
To reserve a place, email: socialbutterfly@lansdowneclub.com, quoting your LRG membership number
Not a Luxury Restaurant Club member?
The Lansdowne Club joins a growing collection of private club experiences available to Luxury Restaurant Guide members this summer, alongside introductions to Mosimann’s, Guards Polo Club, Oriental Club and Barnsgrove.
These experiences and events are included within Luxury Restaurant Club membership alongside dining privileges at more than 400 restaurants across the UK.
Luxury Restaurant Club membership is available monthly (£9 pm) or annually (£95pa). Join here.
