Nicky Haslam is a sort of British twentieth-century cultural icon. Haslam’s heyday was the 1970s through the 1990s, and he was definitely on the London scene and extremely well-connected. He was an interior designer and friends with many of the QEII-generation royals. Currently, he’s in his 80s and British people still have enormous affection for him as a cultural figure. Haslam does an annual list of what’s “common” and the list sometimes makes news. Well, Hello Magazine recently interviewed Haslam and he ended up paying the necessary Sussex Tax. Every British press outlet does this – everyone they interview is asked about Prince Harry and Meghan.
[Nowadays, Haslam] has discovered a more restful way of maintaining his cultural presence: his annual tea towel listing “things that Nicky Haslam finds common”. His selection for 2025 included clapping the chef after a meal, Dan Snow, Stephen Fry, nduja sausages and – thanks to a suggestion from his friend Rupert Everett – death threats. He is currently working on the eighth edition of his tea towel, sometimes sending texts to his assistant, Flora, at midnight if inspiration strikes while he is in bed.
“Stand-up comedians,” he exclaims when asked what’s in contention for the next towel. “I put it in yesterday. I think comedy’s rather common. They think anybody can be a stand-up comedian. There’s no innuendo, no subtlety in humour any more.”
What else? “Smoothies.” The fruity drinks or men in cravats and blazers? “Either.”
His distastes are hard to predict. Unlike some from his generation, he loves the Duchess of Sussex, albeit “for all the wrong reasons”.
“There’s something oddly touching about her. These programmes where she puts flowers on top of cakes: Kirstie Allsopp used to do that and nobody criticised her.”
“I rather like the fact that it’s all manufactured. I’ve got a sneaking love of fakes. They’re amusing. Non-fakes – serious people – are frightfully boring.”
He thinks that Meghan is “foolish” and “wayward” for kicking against the press, but admires her “guts”. She is making Prince Harry happy, he says.
“Wouldn’t I rather be living in a lovely house in Montecito with film stars and going to premieres? I would.”
Do I think that Meghan is “fake”? No, I don’t. I actually find her too earnest at times. I’ve talked about the “fake” accusations before, because it’s a consistent British talking point, that there’s something false or fake about Meghan. They’re telling on themselves – they can’t believe that a woman would be that nice, that intelligent, that charity-oriented without it being performative, or some kind of “royal persona.” That’s what they’re used to. But the other stuff Haslam says here is fine. It’s funny that they act like Meghan is still suing the British press – she hasn’t sued anyone in years. Harry is the one suing all of the tabloids.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Netflix.
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- Nicky Haslam at the V&A 2023 Summer Party at the V&A in South Kensington, London, United Kingdom on 21 June 2023.,Image: 784788810, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Cat Morley/Avalon
What??
“Nicky Haslam is a sort of British twentieth-century cultural icon.” HUH??? I lived in UK for 25+ years in the 2nd half of the 20th Century, and I’ve never heard of Nicky Haslam! Cultural Icon, my foot! Bah!
The Royal Rota Rats are really scraping the bottom of the barrel for content. Sad.
Kicking against the press= Not letting them dictate what I do or where I go.
I also think a lot of this is because they don’t want to go after Harry. They save all of their vitriol for Meghan even if she’s not the one that has said something, is doing something, or even seems concerned with something.
She is not actively suing the press, she is not spearheading the push to get security so that she can come to the UK, and she is not talking about having a relationship with the British royal family. All of that is Harry. But they don’t want to criticize to Harry too hard, because at the end of the day they just see him as someone misguided that they would gladly welcome back if he just left his wife and kids.
And I think you’re spot on that it says more about them, that they can’t believe that someone could just be genuinely kind, that friends actually enjoy being with them and find them thoughtful without it being some ulterior motive. A lot of it is cultural, but a lot of it is also just their refusal to believe that this caricature of a person that they have created isn’t real. So she has to be fake, and they’ll prove it eventually.
It is the absolute reluctance in their world to believe that Meghan could be as she is. She must have an agenda. Again, we do not know half of what was said to Meghan when she was there. Can you imagine?
I think the “kicking against the press” goes back to the idea from the press from years ago that if she had just “played along” they would have been nicer to her.
but the truth is it didnt matter what she did.
“Wouldn’t I rather be living in a lovely house in Montecito with film stars and going to premieres? I would.” Perhaps you would, Nicky, but that’s exactly the kind of life Meghan seems to be not living.
So, let me get this straight: Comedy is “rather common” but serious people are “frightfully boring.” Got it! Makes perfect sense.
even of Meghan did play up to the cameras amd exaggerate her reactions, so what? It would be nothing in comparison to Kate and Will.
The cake toppers remind me of what Martha Stewart did when she started out, she did cake toppers as well.
Martha always seemed joyless in her efforts, kind of robotic and Meghan seems stilted. It’s just my opinion,
to me they aren’t graceful or natural about it in front of the cameras. I always wish Meghan would relax more
Is “common” British for “basic?”
@Cosmo, yes, exactly that. Additionally, because it’s Britain, the term is also tinged with a soupçon of class discrepancy.
I would call it working class, which is doing manual work, if you have to work to live but you push a pen that is slightly higher and if you are a professional, doctor, architect etc. that is further up and if you live on benefits you are at the bottom. Oops the royals live on benefits but that doesn’t count.
I was having dinner at the Ivy in London years ago when Nicky Haslam was having dinner with, wait for it, Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans, before they got married.
Wow @Elizabeth that’s a fun memory to have. I love celeb sightings.
I get the feeling there are quite a few famous Brits that like Harry & Meghan but they can’t say anything too nicely or they’ll incur the wrath of the bots & royalists. ((Peer pressure to be snarky!)) That’s why the Sussexes are better off in Montecito
I really don’t have an issue with his comments. he’s clearly not that tuned into her, he doesn’t know that she doesn’t go to movie premieres (besides the one in Jamaica). etc, that she’s not the one suing the press and so on, but overall his point is that she seems to be living a pretty good life, her husband is happy, she’s happy, and good for her.
Agree with Kaiser. I find Meghan to be refreshing. She is authentic, empathetic, a hard worker, charismatic, and very intelligent. Many refuse to accept a woman who looks like her, carries themself the way she does can possess all of these positive characteristics, with out it being fake.
I was thinking about this very thing this morning — there’s a real trend toward dismissing values-oriented people as “fake,” particularly aimed by men at vocal women. Maybe it’s part of the broader anti-“woke” campaign, where empathy, generosity, and sincerity are automatically framed as performative. But it feels like something narrower, too.
It’s as though making a sincere effort to connect with others, expressing enthusiasm without irony, or openly embracing the goofy things that bring you joy MUST be a profit-minded artifice. Authenticity apparently means being cynical, selfish, and vaguely hostile at all times.
This guy always gives me stress flashbacks to my first British mother-in-law, who was OBSESSED with class. Naturally, she was born ‘common’ and married up, so she became the rabid gatekeeper for everyone else’s class. Their big insult for me was that I was ‘middle class’, which never landed like they hoped it would. Yes, I am middle class. And?
Do not miss her or her son.