Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast has a new, fascinating and shady piece called “‘Saltburn’ for Real: Meet the Young, Rich ‘Narco-toffs’ Who Party Hard.” It’s all about the rich, titled British people who do cocaine, molly and various hallucinogens at extravagant parties at their country homes. Sykes is desperately trying to drag Prince Harry into the conversation, because Harry wrote about his drug use in Spare and Harry has talked about how using certain hallucinogens might have a mental health benefit. That’s a far cry from the “narco-toffs” who spend their weekends getting blitzed at sex parties. Speaking of, Sykes is also bringing in Rebel Wilson’s recent blind item about a minor royal who invited her to a drug-fueled sex party a decade ago. Some highlights:
The narco-toffs: The extraordinary claim by Rebel Wilson that she was invited to a drug-fueled orgy by a minor royal at an LA party was greeted with wry amusement by friends of some hard-partying members of the aristocracy and minor royals this week. Dubbed the “narco-toffs” by their peers, there has always been a section of the upper class that has incorporated copious drug taking alongside the more traditional society pursuits of hunting, shooting and fishing.
Rebel’s story was probably true: So, while Wilson’s remarks in her new memoir Rebel Rising, that she was invited to a lavish party which turned into a molly-fueled orgy by a man who was “tenth or fifteenth” in line to the throne has been called into question by some, to London’s upper class party set it rings very true. One source in the posh British party scene told The Daily Beast: “Drugs and sex? It’s what the lotus-eaters do.” One London drug dealer, who sells products regularly to London’s upper class party set, said it came as no surprise to him that a minor royal should be accused of attending a drug-fueled orgy. “Lots of my customers are ex-boarding school students with cold parents who don’t even know they are traumatized by it. I’ve known them for years, I went to university with them, I’m an equal, I just happen to be bringing the gear. These people don’t want to use anonymous drop-off services.”
The toffs aren’t doing cocaine these days: The dealer said cocaine “is very passé now,” with parties more likely to be fueled by magic mushroom infused alcohol “drops” that cost as little as £60 ($75) for about 40 drops. “Someone puts two drops on your hand and you lick it off. No need to go buggering about in the toilets, and you don’t get the jitters that you do from cocaine.”
A divided narco scene: Another regular party-goer said that the narco-toff scene has now divided into two, with one side still knocking back cocaine and molly at rave-style private parties and the other more boho camp taking a hippy wellness approach to their drug taking. “They are into microdosing, ayahuasca, magic mushrooms and (the psychedelic) DMT,” the source said. “It’s much more about spiritual highs. I heard of one crew recently that flew a shaman in from Peru for an ayahuasca weekend at a stately home. That’s been going on in Ibiza for ages, but it’s a new thing here.”
Harry & ayahuasca: The patron saint of this Gaia gang, of course, is Prince Harry, who revealed in his memoir, Spare that he had used ayahuasca, at first recreationally but subsequently as a therapeutic tool. “It is genuinely different to be going on an ayahuasca weekend than to just be staying up all night getting f–ked on chemicals which is actually a pretty grim thing to do when you have kids, and responsibilities,” the source said. “Also, if you are mid-rewilding the estate, it doesn’t really do to be supporting crime gangs and ecological destruction in the Amazon to get your nosebag.”
One of the anonymous titled “chinless wonders” says: “Mushrooms are ubiquitous, gak (coke, for your less-initiated readers) are passé. Mushrooms are more socially acceptable: not only are they synonymous with woodlands and festivals and outdoor space, but the psilocybin component links neatly to the tech/VC scene which chins get excited by. Also, everyone has the same dealer who is reputedly turning over £500k a month. He brands his mushrooms in lovely chocolate bars designed to look like Green and Blacks, and can be found dressed like a kind of pirate-wizard at most festivals but especially Noisily and Heartwood. A pinger (an E) at a wedding is also very common. Its users (of which I am not one, I just enjoy observing others’ behavior) really kicks the traditional wedding band and bog-standard marquee-in-field in the nuts.”
These days, people aren’t doing molly at rented houses: “Maybe in 2014 that was a thing, but none of the poshos are doing drugs in public these days because they don’t want to lose their jobs at JP Morgan,” the source said. “Also, she said it was at a rented house, which sounds a bit tacky. Far better if you have your own f-ck-off stately to host the party in, and then you don’t have randos like her selling you out.”
There are several mentions of Prince Harry, especially because he’s the rare prince who has been open and honest about his drug usage. I also think Harry’s interest is more in therapeutic usage at this point. But the other stuff… the sex parties and weekend drugs and partying at grand estates? It would not surprise me at all if several royals were involved in that scene. It would even explain certain stories and the haggard appearance of a certain prince.
Photos courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios, Chiabella James/Prime Video, Instagram
Sorry I’ve been out of the loop- did I follow this story about Rebel’s memoir correctly or did she have to print a retraction about Sacha Baron Cohen? What happened there? It was everywhere and then nothing?
No retraction, but she had to redact those sections in the UK edition of the book.
https://www.vulture.com/article/sacha-baron-cohen-rebel-wilson-allegations-removed-uk.html
Her sections about Sacha Baron Cohen have been removed from the British publication, probably because their libel laws are different from ours.
She has to keep popping out a new salacious story on the reg to keep her memoir (ugh) on the surface. Otherwise, no one cares. The SBC story was something that should not be hidden, although no one was surprised. However, I believe being invited and declining a drug-fueled orgy in LA is like Tuesday there. She had to add the part about a minor royal for people to pay any attention.
Agree with you here. Still mad at her for dissing the Duchess. And the tentative, piss-ant way she did it on Watch What Happens Live to see if she could successfully get on the Hate-Meghan train, to benefit herself, without doing any harm to herself. Never uber disliked the no-talent hag before, but now I do.
Tom Sykes is a very interesting person with the things he chooses to write about.
One thing I find fascinating is that Omid has been relentlessly attacked, Giles Coren has been relentlessly attacked and lied about for his William/Rose tweet, yet Tom Sykes has written far more scandalous and damaging things about the RF (and about William specifically) without a word of criticism, in fact most royal fans seem to prefer to act as though he simply doesn’t exist.
It really, really shows the power of being white and upper class.
Mr. We could never say it’s bladder cancer yesterday is Mr. You’d never guess who’s doing drugs all the time today. Somebody is absolutely chomping at the bit to spill spill spill. And anyone saying Will was behind yesterday’s Charles dirt, well look at today’s response…
Fave quote “staying up all night getting f–ked on chemicals … is actually a pretty grim thing to do when you have kids, and responsibilities”
I agree with every word. It’s drip drip drip now. They can’t hold it back anymore when the royals give them nothing. Since February, I’ve been checking the BM headlines from time to time, to see what direction they take and the comments. Other than Meghan’s jam, they have nothing left to write about. Comparing Kate to Diana and the Kate’s wardrobe to QE2. As it was written here on CB before, some rota members are already pushed out, and sidelined. They lost patience and started dripping info.
People at every socioeconomic level use drugs, but this story sounds like total BS. Drug dealers don’t speak on record with the media, nor do they walk around conspicuously dressed at festivals. Aristocrats definitely don’t trash the family homestead with wild parties. Saltburn got that piece of the story all wrong.
And yet he can do the school runs! Hilarious.
staying up all night getting f–ked on chemicals … is actually a pretty grim thing to do when you have kids, and responsibilities”
@Megan- Oh yes they do. Where the heck do you think these shows get their plots from? Bunch of messed up deranged idiots with sod all else to do with themselves, the lot of them.
@Megan–shoot, the British upper-crust have been doing this kinda stuff for decades. Drugs were an ongoing plot device in Christie and Sayers’ 1920’s mysteries because real-life toffs were doing the white powder like crazy. And almost any 1960s Brit musician’s autobiography has them getting high at some peer’s estate…or several. Same mess–only the names change…
@meghan, “aristocrats definitely don’t trash the family homestead”
How do you *definitely* know this?
Because it’s pretty obvious that they definitely do. When you’ve got a hierarchy of servants – parlor maid, chamber maid, kitchen maid; first footman, second footman; valet, butler, etc etc just off top of my head – waiting on you, do you really think these people clean their own homes? Do you really think, therefore, that they worry about getting mud on the carpet?
If you’ve watched/read anything about them, the “lotus eaters” (great description, anonymous leaker) find it very amusing to bitch about this or that idiot friend who spilled wine on the original 16 century Aubusson carpet great great great whatever Uncle Fred brought back from Europe.
Being an amateur and not a professional, being unlearned and not bookish/intellectual – these are badges of honor to these people. Badges that prove that breeding matters more than anything you actually *do* or who you are as a human person. It’s the underpinning of racism and why they all hated Meghan.
Sorry to go on, but I see so many commenters project their own values, behaviors, etc when speculating about Brit royalty/aristocrats. You can’t. They’re right in that they’re not like us. They are so much worse than we can imagine.
I thought all rich people did this. Regular young people do this so why is it shocking that the rich would do it on a bigger scale.
Surely if you don’t want ‘randos selling you out’, sex and drug parties need to be conducted on the basis of informed consent?
Don’t trick people into attending orgies and the guests who know what they are there for won’t flee in horror and tell people about it. Easy.
That’s why they prefer trafficked teens. Less likely to talk. More likely to be “leashed” in some way.
IIRC, Tom Sykes had an alcohol and drug addiction? I’m not sure where I read that, but he praised his wife for helping him, I believe. So, ignoring the Harry part in this article, I am absolutely certain that his sources and information about this scene is correct.
Yeah, he wrote a book about his alcoholism. 20 yrs ago?
Gosh, I just loathe the way Tom Sykes writes. He really loves his “poshos,” it’s so gross. And people flaunting drug use to give them “edge” is so 60s 70s 80s 90s … ugh. Make it stop. Anyway, we all know the Bald One is way into that scene. And didn’t Kate have a pal who organized orgies? They all deserve each other. If that’s the ruling class, no wonder Salt Isle is going down the tubes.
I’m surprised he didn’t bring up “dogging” but perhaps he has a word limit.
Narco-toffs well well that would explain where Peg goes off and hides.
A weekend of hallucinogenic drugs with a bunch of toffs sounds like my idea of Hell.
Yes indeed, that must be why Bill always looks like he’s in pure misery.
A mansion full of nightmare blunt rotations behind every door. Open a door, it’s Charles with a container full of vodka soaked tampons. Open another, it’s Andrew ripping coke baggies out of stuffies while a maid sobs. My god, what a truly hellish place that would be.
It must be bad for Harry to prefer being in a war zone rather than England.
And behind another door, there’s Peggy getting…well, you know…
And there is Fergie getting her toes sucked.
It’s not so extraordinary a claim once we remember that the David Linley aka the Earl of Snowdon was also on Epstein’s list. Of course, that’s been conveniently forgotten and never proved a problem for his position with the Prince’s Trust, which Charles handed him after this revelation was public knowledge.
But sure, why talk about the sordid, illegal, predatory behavior of all the other royals when we can just poke at Harry some more.
I don’t know why this is news. Here in the US psychedelics are everywhere. I live in Idaho and most upper middle class moms microdose and get FDA approved ketamine treatments for mental health. Welcome to 2024. And yea, my experience living near Cambridge in the UK is that the right do decadent stupid rich crap. I’m sure Harry was no different than his peers. I get so tired of the establishment wringing their hands over Harry when they all do the same shady stuff but lie. Please.
I was just going to say, “Uh, guys? Not only rich people are doing mushrooms regularly.” Shock horror.
Lmao at “no need to go jiggering off to the toilets “
Is this really news? I have always assumed that British artistos love to party and do drugs. Let’s face it. They don’t have much else going on in their lives. And it’s doubtful that having cold parents is the major driver of drug and sex filled orgies. It’s just a way to pass the time in their boring lives. The British class system will be the downfall of that nation. It’s already happening.
@Brassy Rebel , You should read about Charles Spencer’s recent book “A Very Private School” . That is Princess Diana’s little brother. One quote from his book. ” The beatings were brutal and sadistic… many of us left school with demons sewn into the seams of our souls”. Spencer goes in to details about he endured for almost 5 years by the head master, some were SA starting at the age of 8. Then coming home to cold parents that barely even ask you anything is heartbreaking and the truth of many aristocratic children. It talks about his first hand account about what boarding schools was and mostly likely still is as there was a reference even in Saltburn. There is a part in the movie about the rich main male character being molested at boarding school. Its at dinner and his sister’s pokes fun at it and he gives her a stern look to stop talking about it. It’s very subtle but I caught it. There is also an episode in the crown where Charles Windsor now KC3 reportedly called it an “absolute hell,” and “I barely survived it”
British boarding schools are factories for producing dysfunctional human beings.
@yup yup- That entire social stratta is wild. It’s been so documented and people still don’t believe that it’s real when they see it in movies and tv. A lot of those are written and produced by the very people experiencing it. Being titled is not some divine gift proving your worthiness. It just means you or some ancestor of yours was so ruthless that people stepped back and let you have the status. There’s a lot of generational trauma there too. When you’ve no other outlet for it, you turn to self destruction. That’s what we’re seeing here.
That aristocratic set were having sex parties fueled with cocaine and laughing gas in the 1870s.
@Brassy rebel – Exactly what you said . The class system will be the downfall of that nation. They are already declining as we speak. We have many problems in the US but the US is still impressively growing(keeping fingers crossed we don’t get another Trump presidency). However They’ve been flat or even declining in growth, and it doesn’t help that there’s an invisible acknowledgement one cannot move up from their station.
Maybe this is the Rose connection for PW and not just an affair. They completely gloss over the “15th or 20th in line” with a direct connection and go straight for name checking PH.
so they don’t do cocaine because it’s too working class right ?
Lady Gabriella Windsor’s ex-boyfriend wrote an article for Vanity Fair a few years ago about the aristocratic set and their drug use. Everyone knows that Lord Frederick Windsor did drugs while he was at Oxford. In fact, weren’t people worried about William spending too much time with him and his friends? Let’s not forget all the photos of Will and Kate leaving nightclubs when they were dating, looking the worse for wear.
I refuse to click any article from Daily Beast (no matter the subjects). I don’t reward companies hiring sh!tting people.
Being compare to characters in Saltburn is not a good thing.
OT: “Saltburn” was overrated. It boasted to be “Brideshead Revisited” combined with “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, but failed. There were no souls in those characters; the plot was muddy.
I read yesterday that they’re going pure tabloid, won’t be pretending to do news or politics anymore. At least they’re admitting it now, but yeah, I refuse to click them.
Is Narco toffs an actual term or did Tom Sykes just make it up? I’m going to ignore the parts about Harry. From my memory I don’t think he talked about taking ayahuasca in his book. He talked about that in his interview with Bryony Gordon and how he used it for his mental health issues.
He did, page 255 second paragraph.
This doesn’t really have anything to do with aristocracy, rather simply with people of a certain age. Cocaine and shrooms are everywhere.
None of this is new. British artisos have been doing this for decades. There are plenty of stories in Tatler or Hello about coked up Dukes and such losing their estates because of their drug habits. I mean, what do you think “The Gentleman” on Netflix was based on? It might be fiction, but it’s based somewhat in reality.
Tom Sykes is great at recycling old crap and trying to make it sound fresh.
Thank you! I enjoyed The Gentleman, but this is a tale as old as time. It’s hilarious how people think that these plots are pulled out of the creators backsides.
I mean…we BEEN knew.
The manor born elite being drugged up, sexed up, psychotic messes is a trope at this point. I can think of half a dozen British tv mysteries that used versions of this as a plot. Bur. It does seem like the rota is starting to jerk Charles and Will-not’s choke chains a bit.
This isn’t exactly piping hot tea is it? “Saltburn” wasn’t creating a reality, it was reflecting it and taking it up a dozen notches. Rich people like to party. A lot of people with disposable income and time on their hands do drugs of various kinds. Throw in a big country pile and a bunch of people who were shipped off to school at age 12 and move in overlapping circles, and you have a situation on your hands. It’s not at all surprising.
@MaisieMom Have you heard of Earl Spencer’s new book ? Its Diana’s little brother. It’s called “A very private school”. His own lived experience in boarding school starting at the age of 8 and it was so shocking and nightmarish that the police opened and investigation. This was not to long ago.. like a few months. I read it and wow. He is an incredible writer but I cried at the thought of what he went through and how he now understands traumatized him so badly and it effected his relationships and he ended up getting so depressed after writing it he had to go to a hospital and hasn’t touched alcohol since. This was recent. Something has always been off about aristro families. There is a reference in Saltburn that the rich main male character was molested at boarding school. The sister pokes fun at him and he glares at her to stop talking about it.
I went to boarding school myself when I was 15. Here in the US, not in the UK. It was a mixed bag, positive in some ways and tough in others. But 15 is not 12. I had one friend there, with whom I roomed for a while, who had been sent to one of the few places that boarded pre-high school age kids. She had already lost her mother at a young age, so being away from home at age 11 compounded the impact of that I think. To this day, she goes after men who are attached (serious GF, married, etc.). It’s a pattern that has repeated over more than 30 years.
“Harry wrote about his drug use in Spare and Harry has talked about how using certain hallucinogens might have a mental health benefit. That’s a far cry from the “narco-toffs” who spend their weekends getting blitzed at sex parties.”
Oh come on, we all know Harry spent some years getting blitzed at parties on weekends, nothing wrong with that, I bet it was a ton of fun! Let’s not act like he’s some pristine angel who only ever deigned to do drugs in a clinical setting to address his mental health issues.
Charlie, what time period would that have been?
This is all absolutely true and has been true for decades. I lived in London in the late 90’s and dated a Wykehamist whose friends had fuck-off estates. We were all in our early 20’s and there were big country estate parties where cocaine flowed freely. It was odd, they didn’t do it regularly in their daily lives, but the parties were wild. It was also clear that none of these men who had gone to Winchester were at all connected to their parents, and their parents didn’t really care what their children got up to. I also went to a country estate wedding and ended up doing blow with a Gucci in one of the bathrooms (I was young, stupid, and it was the only time I did it. I didn’t like it.). Ecstasy was also a big deal then, but I never tried it. It doesn’t surprise me that psychedelics are the new party drug. I agree with Harry about the benefits of psychedelic use, but honestly that’s in a therapeutic context, not romping about the countryside with a bunch of toffs.
Yep. The non-fiction book Bright Young People covers the 1920’s real-life versions of narco-toffs. And they crashed up against reality big-time when the Depression and WWI hit. Drugs have always been a way for aristocrats to escape the brutalities of the class system–and not knowing what to do with one’s life.
What bug has gotten up Tom Sykes’ butt that he is dropping these bombs the last couple of days? They are not just hints that only toffs might get but explosions that even us mere mortals will understand. It is as though he is mad at something, perhaps losing access? This seems more than just trumpeting something to further the agenda of one of the palaces.
He drops the bladder cancer bomb and today we see him make very thinly veiled references to specific aristos. Referencing JP Morgan? That’s where Freddy Windsor works. He’s the son of Princess Michael who lived in LA with his actress wife; and, who many of us thought was the royal that invited Wilson to the orgy.
Re-wilding? Only so many aristocrats are rewilding their estates, all of which has been in the press. It probably wouldn’t be too difficult to figure out who was referenced. E.g.:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9188169/Party-loving-aristocrat-looks-rewild-garden-750-year-oldr-family-seat.html. Not sure if this is the particular re-wilding aristo because there are several.
And then of course there was the “rave” that Kate attended for the first time at Rose’s place recently. Is this a reference to Mr. Rocksavage? I would totally believe him being a depraved partyer.
Sykes is acting like a “rando” bleating about the misdeeds of some aristos. I have no clue why but I just hope it keeps coming!
In Eric Clapton’s memoir, he talks about his time with the toffs and his heroin addiction. He was with the teenage daughter of Lord Harlech. He survived the drugs. She did not. Terribly sad story.
Alice. Sad story.
It was mentioned that Rebel had to edit her book for England because of the libel laws being different. What are the laws, where are the laws pertaining to Meghan? Not a retorical question. How are they getting away with this?
I hope they are using protection. As long as there are no abuses and minors, grown people are free to do what they want . For me, yikes! High does seem safe to me. The STD royals!
I could swear a while back one of Kate close friends organizes these type of parties for a living. That was her job.
Killing Kittens
Even more reasons for why monarchy should be abolished globally tbh
Should I watch Saltburn?
It’s not the country-estate Agatha Christie sort of murder mystery I was expecting. (in fact there’s no whodunnit at all.) The third act is a mess, but I’d recommend it. Free on Amazon Prime.
There’s atmosphere, snappy dialogue,great acting, and an intimate look-in at an estate that’s never been used as film location and is owned by a family that keeps pretty quiet and out of the tabloids.
Honestly, the thought of a single family owning this pile makes me a little sick, but that’s part of the point of the film and that obscenity is intoxicating in itself.
Emerald Fennell is a good director and her stories have meat, but, she really could benefit from a co-writer. I like her.
THANKS! 🙂 I think I might watch it tonight!..
Be prepared for the fact that it (IMO) aims to shock at a physical, visceral level and it succeeds. At least it did with me. Not the whole movie, but several notable scenes.
Very good acting, great production value, and note-worthy. I agree that she might need another pair of eyes on her work though, for the sake of pacing and discipline.
I did mushrooms once in my modest rental. When I wasn’t projectile vomiting during the first two hours, I was looking at the ceiling and thinking “wow, this place needs a paint job….”
Toward the end, I enjoyed myself. Oranges tasted especially great. and we listened to Herbie Hancock, which was perfect. Wasn’t worth the vomity stage though.
I have zero inclination to try this again. I truly do not get the allure.