As if by magic, here we are again: the final issue of the year. We made it, just. I hope you’re all enjoying the last lap of parties before crawling home for some self-loathing on the sofa. If all goes to plan, by the time you read this I’ll be re-emerging phoenix-like from the ES Magazine all-day bash.
Festivities will follow the same format as last year — I’m nothing if not a creature of habit — which means a five-hour shouty and very drinky lunch at The French House degenerating into a ricochet through after-dark Soho taking in such subterranean delights as Trisha’s and Gerry’s. What could possibly go wrong?
On to the matter in hand. Thank you to covergirl Rita Ora — surely the hardest-working person in showbiz; definitely the sweetest — for supporting our Winter Survival charity campaign. Read all about her experience with the Chances for Children initiative on page 24. It’s an amazing cause so, if you can, please donate here.
Elsewhere, Richard Godwin provides a blow-by-blow review of the past 12 months (seriously 2023, WTAF?), Emily Phillips explains why not leaving our great city is the best Christmas plan (I’m staying put this year), we remember the wild, wild world of the Scala cinema and the hysterical Daisy May Cooper is on My London duties.
We’ll be back on 19 January with a special cover but in the meantime you’ll find us over at standard.co.uk. That’s it for now. Thank you, dear readers, for your kind words — it means a lot. Now, to paraphrase Macaulay Culkin: Merry Christmas you filthy animals!
