London’s Oldest Restaurant, Frequented by Monarchs and Pop Stars Alike, Is a Site of ‘Living History.’ Now It’s Protected by the National Trust for Generations to Come
Rules, a historic restaurant where the likes of Charles Dickens and Madonna have dined, is changing hands for only the fourth time in over 200 years. Visitors can see artifact-covered walls and indulge in rich British cuisine
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/c2/28/c2283da7-edd4-4453-ab4f-20b584852130/gettyimages-1686794563.jpg)
After more than two centuries—spanning ten British monarchs, 45 prime ministers and two world wars—London’s oldest restaurant is entering a new chapter.
Rules, a storied restaurant on Maiden Lane in Covent Garden, has changed hands only three times since opening its doors in 1798. Now, J.P. Mayhew, the building’s proprietor for the past 40 years, is donating the site, along with the art collection it houses and rent from the restaurant business, to the National Trust, a British conservation charity, per the Independent’s Emily Beament. Altogether, the donation is valued at £11 million, approximately $14.5 million.
“Rules is place of living history where kings, writers and politicians have dined. A place where you can see, smell and taste not only treacle sponge, but centuries of history, care and memories. A place where cultural traditions have been kept alive, and continue to thrive, despite the world around it changing,” Hilary McGrady, director-general of the National Trust, says in a statement posted to social media.
The restaurant is located on a cobblestone road in the center of London’s vibrant theater district. Over the years, it has played host to countless authors, playwrights and stars, including Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, H. G. Wells, Charlie Chaplin, Madonna and Harrison Ford.
In all that time, Rules developed a reputation for discretion. Edward VII, who served as king of the United Kingdom between 1901 and 1910, had a private door built into the restaurant’s paneled walls so he could slip in unseen with his mistress, the socialite and actress Lillie Langtry, according to the Telegraph’s Craig Simpson.
Author Graham Greene even memorialized the restaurant’s romantic potential in his 1951 novel, The End of the Affair. “Is it possible to fall in love over a dish of onions? It seems improbable and yet I could swear it was just then that I fell in love,” Greene’s narrator muses.
Rules has survived crisis after crisis, staying open even during World War II. In those years, service ran for only two hours, during lunchtime, and complied with government rationing guidelines. Those wartime meals “weren’t exactly high gastronomy,” but Rules skirted the strictest restrictions by selling wild-caught grouse, pheasant and rabbit, CNN’s Chris Dwyer reported in July. To this day, Rules sells more game than any other restaurant in the country.
Rules’ cluttered walls are a testament to its history. The restaurant’s four stories are adorned with visitor books, caricatures, portraits and signs. Many of its artifacts bear the faces and names of the high-profile guests who have warmed the restaurant’s plush chairs. Langtry, Edward VII’s mistress, even gave Rules a signed portrait of herself to thank the restaurant for its tactfulness, per the Independent.
While Mayhew is donating the restaurant’s historic building and contents to the National Trust, he sold the restaurant business to Ricky McMenemy in 2022. Under the new arrangement, McMenemy will become a commercial tenant of the National Trust.
Did you know? World’s oldest restaurant
The world’s longest continuously running restaurant is Madrid’s Sobrino de Botín, which opened in 1725.
The Maiden Lane building will be the first in National Trust’s portfolio to house a running restaurant operation. But the charity is no stranger to historic businesses. Its portfolio currently includes 39 historic pubs and several country house hotels, according to the Guardian’s Esther Addley and George Francis Lee.
Day-to-day operations of the restaurant will remain under the purview of McMenemy. “It will always be run as a restaurant,” National Trust national curator Lucy Porten tells the Guardian.
McMenemy tells the Independent that the donation gives him and his staff “security and peace of mind” to know that Rules will be looked after even as the restaurant industry weathers instability.
The charity is looking to add ways to expand access to the historic restaurant, potentially through virtual visits. In the meantime, patrons can expect the same rabbit rillettes, pork cheeks and steak and kidney pies. For anyone worried the National Trust may warp Rules with its afternoon tea sensibilities, fear not. “There will be no scones,” Porten tells the Guardian.