Summer in Sloane Square: A Postcard
London's Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea is ultimate escapism.
After two years of faithful Made In Chelsea viewing, I finally made it to RBKC which, in its all glory, exceeded my expectations. After spending two beyond lovely days in London’s smallest borough, I wanted to share a new editorial - and what I hope to be the first of many - an MMTD Postcard, and Summer in Sloane Square is the very first.
The lovely Sloane Square hotel was the perfect base for my adventures, a stone’s throw from the underground station, and looking out on to the Venus Fountain, surrounded by Union Jacks hung in orderly lines - a welcome sight that greets you with every step when in Chelsea. Shortly after check-in, my dad and I stumbled across the charming John Sandoe books, tucked in Blacklands Terrace, and reminiscent of the kind of establishment you would half expect Notting Hill’s Will Thacker, hair tousled and powder blue shirt donned, to appear around a shelf somewhere.
The unique little bookshop is the perfect spot to pause and browse and its upstairs level has the dreamiest window seats where cushions and outdoor floral boxes beckon you to peek outside. Shortly after, lunch was grabbed at Paul, a French patisserie on the King’s Road, where we polished off goat’s cheese croquettes monsieur’s and halved a fruit tartlet and cream slice (high carb day, ssh), with coffees of course. When in Chelsea.
A second bookshop stop was made to the Waterstones nearby, where I picked up a new read for my darling grandmother, Power and Glory by Alexander Larman (which I half read myself in a very comfy leather chair in the downstairs area). Next on the agenda (the agenda was relaxedly wandering around the Borough and exploring anywhere that looked remotely intriguing) was a stroll around Duke of York square. I could, of course, not walk past somewhere named The Chelsea Grocer without taking a nosy around, a newly established, swish supermarket that I believe to have freshly replaced the old Partridges.
Upon entry, I attained a gorgeous straw CG tote bag which I actually used today to export my lunch box to the office from my car just to mix things up - really crazy behaviour, I know. Also on the grocery list: Jamie Laing’s Eton Mess Candy Kittens for my little sister (major side note: huge congrats to Jamie and Sophie on their baby announcement. Let’s hope Spencer Matthews is invited to its 1st birthday when the time comes - if you know, you know).
The Saatchi Gallery is right by The Chelsea Grocer, which as we walked to adorable Hill House students ran across the nearby green to play cricket for their P.E. lesson (which at this point was just sheer propaganda on RBKC’s part for permanent relocation). I didn’t actually enter any of the gallery’s exhibitions but browsed the quirky gift shop to the right of the entrance and admired the building’s grand architecture before doing so.
Our lovely Princess of Wales actually made a visit to the gallery last September (and lived in the borough’s Old Church Street with Pippa after graduating from St. A). Also, if The Crown didn’t use the gallery building as one of their filming locations for a faux royal residence, they definitely missed an opportunity.
Other RBKC favourites include:
The Smythson store on Sloane St. (if you’re reading this and you're wedding planning, highly recommend taking a look at their wedding invitations/ stationery - simple yet divine)
A quick ice cream stop at Amorino (my order: duche de leche 10/10) with a fun view of the King’s Road Joe & the Juice for some prime people watching of London’s most interesting)
Browse of the very cool Papersmiths stationery shop on the Pavillion Road (and nearly picked up a Five-Minute Journal and resisted, only to now sort of regret it. If anyone uses one regularly, please let me know if they are worth the purchase! Recently found out that the founder is a good friend and advisor of Gstaad Guy)
Catching a glimpse of horses in the square while enjoying breakfast on a very rainy morning the next day amongst the usual hubbub of commuters
Coffee at Soho Home and a browse of their homeware collection, interiors by Soho House (which yes is where Prince Harry met Meghan Markle. Also sidetone, I posted a reel of Chelsey Davy last week and it has racked up 448K views and an awful lot of wild comments. Read at your own risk, I have not had time to delete or monitor them).
A second coffee stop sitting outside The Chelsea Grocer (will not lie, the coffee at Soho Home right next door is supremely better but I probably should have anticipated that)
And yes, we managed to pull ourselves away from Chelsea briefly, so here are some broader favs:
I met my brother for dinner at the Wolseley, which is located beside The Ritz, which has very timeless interiors, a fab creme brûlée - and somehow we saw Williams team director James Vowles at dinner with his wife
A stroll to St. Paul’s after while dusk began to settle
The next day, we sojourned to Piccadilly to get lost in, you guessed it, Fortnum & Mason and its next door neighbour Hatchards, bookshop of the BRF, whose entire UK politics section I wanted to buy and bring home in my Ted Baker carry-on
A very lovely lunch to follow at a nearby Caffè Concerto
Personal favs for the trip: My trench coat, my ON Roger Advantage white/fossil shoes & much adored Smythson Panama business bag in the classic ‘Nile’.
A lovely time as always, London, I hope to be back sometime soon. Thanks to the lovely people on Instagram who left me some Chelsea recommendations for last week. Join us on our Instagram, the primary platform for MMTD, if you haven’t already and I hope you are all enjoying your summer, wherever you are & whatever you are doing.
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Live Beautifully,
MMTD Founder & Editor