Sunday 21st June 2026 – 10.30am for prompt 11am departure
Matthew Steeples will be your guide as you explore some of London’s most storied neighbourhoods. Whilst the addresses we’ll visit may seem to be ritzy superficially, you’ll learn of the darker events that have occurred in SW1 and SW3 alongside some jollier details too. Aside from buildings connected to Ghislaine Maxwell and Lord Lucan, you will hear the story of a high society ‘Bright Young Thing’ who got away with murder and a Bakelite plastics heir who ultimately didn’t; this will be a thought provoking tour where there’ll also be plenty of opportunity for questions and conversation.
Duration:
2 to 2.5 hours including one stop at a halfway point for brief refreshments and use of facilities, if participants feel the need for such.
Details:
Starting point – Belgravia, SW1X; nearest underground stations are Knightsbridge and Sloane Square.
The exact meeting point will be confirmed after your booking has been made.
Finishing point – Chelsea, SW3.
Participants will be welcome to join for drinks at the end of the walk (at their own expense).
Participants should be over 18 years of age to enjoy the experience to the full and are advised to wear suitable attire for walking in Central London.
Booking:
To book your tickets, please click the following link to pay £30 per person attending:
Alternatively, pay £30 per person via bank transfer to:
Account name: Longreach Publishing Limited
Bank: Monzo Bank Limited
Sort code: 04-00-06
Account number: 90607601
Once you have booked, please email editorial@thesteepletimes.com to confirm your booking. Bookings will be accepted on a first come, first served basis; places on the tour are limited.
Please note that all food and drink is to be purchased at your own expense and that though tickets are non-refundable, they are transferable.
Sophie from Southwark, London – Endorsement of previous tour:
“The tour was both enjoyable and fascinating, with Matthew pointing out both well-known and not-so-well-known crimes. I’ve done a few walking tours here and there and this one was the best – Matthew really knows the history and the who’s who of the area. I highly recommend the tour for both information and general entertainment value.”
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Matthew Steeples invites you to an evening with ‘Waking The Dead’ writer and co-founder of ‘Byline Times’ Peter Jukes on 20th May 2026 at PJ’s Chelsea Brasserie, London
Matthew Steeples of The Steeple Times
invites you to
An evening with author, screenwriter, playwright and journalist Peter Jukes
Writer: ‘Holby City’, ‘The Inspector Lynley Mysteries’ and ‘Waking The Dead’
Author: ‘A Shout in the Street’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Murdoch’
Podcaster: ‘Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder Exposed’
Co-founder: ‘Byline Times’
The Steeple Times – Discussion and Dinner
at PJ’s Chelsea Brasserie, 52 Fulham Road, London, SW3 6HH
on Wednesday 20th May 2026
THE EVENING
* Arrivals for a Prosecco reception in a private setting on the first floor of PJ’s Chelsea Brasserie from 6.30pm. Those arriving earlier are welcome to enjoy a drink at the ground floor PJ’s bar.
* Matthew Steeples in conversation with Peter Jukes at 7pm prompt with audience questions to follow for 30 minutes. The format will be similar to our previous discussions with amongst others biographer and true crime legend Geoffrey Wansell, Britain’s best known crime correspondent Martin Brunt of Sky News, actor, writer and producer Steven Berkoff, filmmaker Amanda Eliasch, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York author Andrew Lownie and Manhunt and Crime Suspect host Peter Bleksley. There will be an opportunity for questions.
* 3-course dinner with wine, with options for those with particular dietary requirements, to follow. Guests will have the opportunity to chat with Peter Jukes and Matthew Steeples during the dinner.
* After dinner, guests will be welcome to continue discussions downstairs at the legendary PJ’s bar for further cocktails and conversation.
PETER JUKES
Swindon born Peter Jukes graduated from Queens’ College, Cambridge with a double first in English. A self-declared “Jack of all trades,” Peter’s early plays were performed by Tilda Swinton and Johanna Scalon and his contemporaries at the Cambridge Footlights numbered Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson.
During a veritable and varied career, here is a personable polymath who has worked as a journalist, playwright, screenwriter, literary critic and author. Aside from being lauded as an expert in the art of dark comedy, on television and radio, Peter is primarily known for his work in the field of crime thrillers and medical dramas. Credits have included The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Waking the Dead and Sea of Souls. His opening episode of the third season of Holby City was described by The Guardian as “the televisual equivalent of crack” whilst his 20-part series about the murder of the British private investigator Daniel Morgan topped the UK iTunes podcast chart.
Delving into the phone hacking scandal took Peter down a rabbit hole that resulted in him becoming the first person to ‘live tweet’ a trial on his iPad (with the permission of the presiding judge, Mr Justice Saunders). After spending nearly 9 months doing this in 2013 and 2014 and having written a book about the paradoxes of the News Corp head honcho, Rupert Murdoch, titled The Fall of the House of Murdoch, in 2012, he co-founded the crusading investigative title Byline Times in 2012.
The work of Peter Jukes and his colleagues on topics ranging from Brexit and Cambridge Analytic to Jeffrey Epstein’s expressed desire to establish a church for “confession privilege” have resulted in Byline Times being described as a “counter-balance to the billionaire dominated British press.”
BOOKING
Tickets are priced at £85 per person and include a glass of Prosecco on arrival and half a bottle of either red or white wine per person with dinner.
To pay by bank transfer, please use the details below or alternatively please make a transfer of £85 per ticket to the account listed below by clicking the following link:
Tickets can only be purchased in advance and guest names must be supplied for allocated place settings. The deadline for booking is 6pm on Tuesday 19th May 2026. Tickets are issued on a non-refundable basis.
MENU
The ticket price includes a glass of Prosecco on arrival, ½ a bottle of either red or white wine per person and a three course meal.
In comparing her tawdry bonkbuster books to Sherlock Holmes, Matthew Steeples suggests Sarah, Duchess of York to be beyond bonkers; elsewhere another billionaire chum of hers has been accused of financing a sex trafficking ring
Earlier this month we joined those highlighting the latest grifting activities of Sarah, Duchess of York. ‘Freeloader Fergie’ has now added fuel to the fire and ludicrously, in reference to her bag of bilge bonkbuster ‘writing’ for Mills & Boon, compared her ‘literary works’ to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beyond brilliant Sherlock Holmes in terms of style.
Whilst Sir Arthur initially struggled to find a publisher, he was eventually accepted for publication of his first work featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, A Study in Scarlet, aged 27 in November 1886. He went on to have a career that deservedly brought him fame and fortune and remains loved by millions.
Sarah, Duchess of York, meanwhile, has lived off her royal name, associated with crooks, taken loans from paedophiles including Jeffrey Epstein (and presumably not repaid them) and now thinks herself a top-drawer author. Here, indeed, is a woman clearly having a laugh (and being deservedly laughed at) and that she declared her books to be a cross between “Sherlock Holmes and Peaky Blinders” is just further evidence of how delusional she truly is.
Elsewhere late last week, came further revelations that on top of her having taken loans and other benefits from the croaked paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, one of the dimwitted dunce formerly known as Sarah Ferguson’s “billionaire associates” has been accused of “bankrolling a sex trafficking ring” in a lawsuit in California.
Featured in the Daily Mail on 19th March, Daniel Bates revealed:
“Trammell Crow, 72, who Sarah Ferguson has reportedly struck up a friendship with, is alleged to have financed the enterprise which led to two women being abused.”
“The Texan property tycoon and environmental philanthropist, who is worth £6 billion ($7.3 billion, €6.8 billion or درهم27 billion), is accused of a string of lurid claims in the court papers filed in California.”
“The lawsuit was filed by two women, Julia Hubbard and Kayla Goedinghaus against Crow and his associates in a court in November. They claimed that the ring was run by a man called Richard Hubbard with the ‘with the essential financial assistance and influence’ of Crow.”
“Fergie and Crow are said to have bonded over their shared interest in environmental issues. Their friendship was first reported at the beginning of the month.”
“The lawsuit claims that Crow used ‘force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion to compel Hubbard and Goedinghaus to engage in commercial sex acts.’ The case was filed under laws governing racketeering and it claims that the defendants ‘conspired together’ to commit offences including human trafficking. The women claim that Crow forced the alleged victims to take drugs like Xanax ‘in order to force them to participate in sex acts.’”
“It is alleged that Crow was ‘key to the venture’s existence and long running success’ as he invested in it.”
Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.
This morning on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “In comparing her tawdry bonkbuster books to Sherlock Holmes, has grifter Sarah, Duchess of York shown herself to be beyond bonkers?” By 11:30am on Saturday 25th March 2023, the majority of respondents had taken the view: “Yes; off her merry rocker.”Responding to the poll, Garney Nicholls was very direct in his views about Sarah, Duchess of York. He didn’t share his thoughts on her comparing herself to Sherlock Holmes, but he did state: “She was a tart when she was a teenager, mummy ran off with a polo player and daddy had it way in a plane I once read. Just ‘cos they got money, don’t mean they bad cop, bad lot.”The latest drivel from Sarah, Duchess of York (written ‘with’ someone named Marguerite Kay) is due out on 30th March 2023. It is titled ‘A Most Intriguing Lady’ and is published by Mills & Boon. The grifter’s ‘novel’ is priced at £14.99 and she has been out doing the rounds comparing it to Sherlock Holmes and ‘Peaky Blinders.’ The loon is clearly having a laugh (or just, as most would actually rightly assume, off her merry-rocker).Sleazy looking billionaire Trammell Crow has brought further shame on ‘Feckless Fergie’ and her non-sweating hubby Prince Andrew after being accused of being involved in sex trafficking. One is left asking: “What was it about this creepy looking creature that first attracted the former Sarah Ferguson to him?”
The Weird Words of “Greedy” and “Needy” Freeloader Wannabe Sherlock Holmes Sarah, Duchess of York… They Get Weirder By The Week…
Given the live-in ex-wife at Royal Lodge, Windsor of supposedly skint ‘Randy Andy’ – a non-sweating nuisance who got his long-suffering relatives to pay a supposed sum of circa £12 million to Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a woman he has previously claimed to have met – is in on a world tour to prattle on to anyone who pays to listen, perhaps she should be reminded of her own weird and even weirder warblings. They number:
Of sex, her and goats: “One of the worst headlines said 82% [of the population] would rather sleep with a goat than Fergie. It’s never left me.”
Of her writing novels and her style: “Sherlock Holmes meets Peaky Blinders.”
Of the royal family: “They tried to put the little redhead in a cage.”
Of her own family: “I do believe in family unity. I think forgiveness is key.”
Of the Duke of York: “A good man… In 1986, I married a very good man. Zip.”
Of whether she might remarry Prince Andrew: “Oh bless your heart, no. I think we’re great as we are.”
Of supporting her disgraced ex-husband financially: “I will always be there [for Prince Andrew].”
“When Andrew went through a hard time, I used to be able to throw it to ‘The Boss.’”
“Since he stepped back [from royal duties] he doesn’t actually take taxpayers’ money and I’m in a position where I can support him and the rest of the family through my work. And I’m really pleased and proud to do that.”
“All I will say is that for many years now – it started with Budgie the Little Helicopter – I’ve really pushed to look after my girls and to contribute to the York family life.”
Of where she and the Duke of York will end up living in the future: “Honestly, I operate from living in the present. You never get complacent and it makes for a better day because you never get disappointed, then. You look at life and you go, we can adapt, we can be flexible.”
Of whether she might remarry someone else: “I think I’ve got too much baggage. I look at today and if suddenly I find love again, well, that’s another bonus, isn’t it?”
Of her daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie: “Exceptional… I love my girlies, I’m so proud of them. They are exceptional children… If mum’s OK, they’re OK.”
“My daughters come first in my life, they always have. Because I lost my mum so early, I’m subconsciously very present with them. When I brought them up, I always left my problems at the door. Your problem is not their problem – it’s not their fault. We laugh together a lot. We are just very close.”
Of her grandchildren: “I’m ‘Super Gran’… When my grandchildren see me, they immediately laugh because they know I’m going to be up to something, up to no good somewhere.”
“Every time I think about about co-parenting and co-grandparenting and about divorce, marriage and all these different things, I still come back to the principle that the sun will come up tomorrow, and be grateful, just get on with it.”
Of the late Queen Elizabeth II: “For me, she was more a mother than my own mother. Aren’t I the luckiest person alive to have had that great honour? When I was with her, I used to say: ‘I can’t believe it. People wait and put on their best dress to have an audience with you, and I’m wandering around the garden in wellies!’”
“For the whole nation, for the world. Steadfast, consistent, iconic. [She had an] extraordinary ability to put someone at ease. I still now think it was such an honour [to have known her].”
“During the last three years, her poor son [was] going through such a tumultuous time… And I think HM was very relieved I could help her with him, so we became even closer, then.”
“I’m so lucky. All my life, I was lucky enough to know ‘The Boss,’ HM. Like the nation and the world, she was always there. It was like having a hand at your back. It just made you always strive for being better and trying to be better, learning from her, whenever you were with her just taking everything she said as a memory. She was such an incredible legend for us all.”
Of the late Queen’s corgis: “They’re very good boys, they’re very gentle. I think they knew that they weren’t to jump up and be naughty. They used to sit and watch the racing with her. And when you give them a biscuit, they don’t snatch. They’re very special, they’re national treasures.”
“They really make me laugh and the follow me around. Sometimes I break a little ‘biccie’ – a digestive biscuit – in the same way the Queen broke it into little pieces, and give it to them and tell them to remember their boss.”
Of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: “I have been judged all my life, and I have no judgment on the Sussexes.”
“It must be hard for Meghan and can I relate to her. I believe she is modern and fabulous. She was famous before. She is great. Why can’t Meghan be great? Why can’t she be celebrated? I have been in Meghan’s shoes, and I still am. There’s always a twist of negativity and it just gets so sad and tiring… I abhor bullying and I feel desperately sorry for the pain they must be going through.”
“I believe very strongly that I have absolutely no judgment on any other person’s life, and I look at how much she [Meghan] loves him [Harry] and loves the children and gives him a love that he’s never had before. That’s how I look at it… The most important thing is, Diana would be so very proud of Archie and Lili. She would have adored every moment of it.”
Of King Charles III: “It’s incredible what he’s done for the environment. He was a trailblazer and many years ago, everybody said: ‘What’s he talking about?’ But he’s right. I’m a great believer and supporter of him, as I am of the Queen Consort.”
Of herself and her life: “I have been in the gutter.”
“I’m a brilliant mother. The best mother.”
“I don’t believe that any single person has the right to judge another person. I’m not in a position myself to make any judgments.”
“I’m very steadfast and stoic… I won’t let anyone down. I’m very loyal.”
Being rather wishy-washy: “The most important thing is that the sun will come up tomorrow and the day will move on.”
Of food, family and dining: “As long as it is hot, wet and goes down the right way, it’s fine with me.”
“With every smell, I smell food. With every sight, I see food. I can almost hear food. I want to spade the whole lot through my mouth at Mach 2. Basta!”
“We all sit round the table and eat together. Andrew and I believe in total parent unity. We’re best friends.”
On the coronation of King Charles III: “Well I’ve decided the best thing about British around a coronation – although I’ve never been to one – I think we should, I should set up a tea room at the bottom of the drive with bunting and cakes.”
“Never presume, never assume. I don’t know. But I’ll be there at the end of the drive with a cup of tea if I’m not there.”
Of wanting to be a television star: “I would quite like to go on Dancing With The Stars. I would like somebody to teach me to tango. I do know the show and my children would be so proud of me.”
On Americans: “I divorced, went to America, wrote a book, went on Oprah and did 12 years as the longest running spokesperson of Weight Watchers. I looked to America to support me and to help me and I really can’t thank the American people enough for what they gave me and what they did for me.”
Of when she decided she wanted to bag a royal: “I met [Prince Andrew] when I was 12, and I said: ‘I’m going to marry him.’”
Of marriage, divorce and work: “I left my marriage knowing I’d have to work. I have.”
“I didn’t want a divorce, but had to because of circumstance.”
“I wish we’d never got divorced. He and I both wish we’d never divorced, but we did. I wish I could go back and be the bride again, but I can’t.”
Of her many, many mistakes: “I felt that I ostracised myself by my behaviour, by the past, by living with all the regrets of my mistakes, that I sort of wore a hair shirt and beat myself up most of the day thinking and regretting why did I make such a mistake. Why have I made so many mistakes?”
“You look at the devil in the face, which you do. Then you forgive, and you say: ‘OK, I’ve made almost a mistake that will never be forgotten,’ and forgive.”
“I think the obstacles are the way, as opposed to in the way. I feel very strongly that I completely and utterly own my very naïve self and made endless different wrong decisions, whatever they may be, but in the end, it’s got me to today as an author. I’m a person in my own right, I’m Sarah.”
“I was so out of control with desperation… I was looking for quick fixes in the places I wouldn’t normally look… I’ve been a huge overtrusting, idiotic, stupid woman that went to look for the perfect situation, and that’s all I can say really.”
“I’ve done the work to get to myself. I’ve done masses of mental therapy. I probably reached to the wrong places and the wrong people and made, as you call it, mistakes. I don’t call them mistakes. I call them enormous learning curves.”
Desperate, as ever, for attention, there appears to be no opportunity that Sarah, Duchess of York will miss in her quest for constant publicity. Even the late Queen’s dogs have to be dragged out for a bit of personal profiteering courtesy of ‘Hello!’ magazine.The decidedly dodgy duchess appeared in another article recently that was shared on social media. It was titled: “Duchess dishes the dirt!” and is indeed representative of how tawdry and tacky and tastleless this tittle-tattler truly is. Shame on Sarah, Duchess of York.In January, Omid Scobie, the pugnacious pillock PR peddler for the Duchess of Sussex revealed that the ‘Duchess of Deviancy’ had moved into the world of NFTs and would be selling digital works “by established and emerging artists.” Is there any medium that will escape “the new world” of this tedious toerag?On Thursday 20th August 1992, the ‘Daily Mirror’ shared what they called “the pictures they didn’t want you to see.” In them, a topless Duchess of York was shown having her toes sucked in the South of France by a Texan millionaire named John Bryan. Of the incident, the ‘Mirror’ later reported: “Royal writer Richard Kay claimed in the ‘Daily Mail’ that he received a message via pager from Princess Diana the night before the photos hit the newspaper stands. Diana’s message was simple: ‘The redhead’s in trouble.’”
Bonhams to sell amusing letters from “alcoholic crank” and author John O’Hara that examine the difference between “arse” and “ass;” of his work ‘BUtterfield 8’ Elizabeth Taylor once raged: “I think it stinks!”
“Bingeworthy” American short story author John O’Hara (1905 – 1970) was once described as “may not [having] been the best story writer of the twentieth century, but he [was] the most addictive.”
“Unfashionable in literary circles in the 1960s” and known for his “easily bruised ego, alcoholic crankiness, long-held resentments and politically conservative views,” an amusing letter from O’Hara – whose notable works included Appointment in Samarra and BUtterfield 8 – that was held in the collection of the Frasier screenwriter and producer David Lloyd (1934 – 2009) is to be auctioned by Bonhams in Los Angeles this month.
Written on 9th July 1938 to one Mr Mavrogordato and sent from 52 Chesil Court, Manor Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 – which was also for a time home to the “cheeky Cockney” actor Harry Fowler MBE (1926 – 2012) – the second of the letters points to the difference between the word “arse” in England and its counterpoint “ass” in America. It reads:
“In America the word is pronounced and spelled ass. In England, where I have had one book published, and another to be published in September, they spell it your way in my books. I happen to think it’s inconsistent to do that with a writer whose stuff is so completely American, but after a certain point has been reached, I always let publishers have their way.”
It comes with an earlier typed letter dated 4th July 1938 written to Fred J. Feldkamp (1914 – 1981), the editor of For Men, in which O’Hara submits an article (not present with the lot). The author informs that he will be “traveling through Europe for most of the summer” and complains:
“I admit that I was a little surprised at the small size of the cheque for the other piece, but we can take that up when I get home. Over here every little bit helps, and anyway it takes so God damn long to argue by mail.”
Whether this argumentative author subsequently made an “arse” or an “ass” of himself with his bosses remains unknown, but one thing is for sure, John O’Hara considered Americans above Brits to the end. In 1952, he concluded: “Sometimes I almost feel that I ought to apologize [sic] for having the ability to write good dialogue, and yet it’s the attribute most lacking in American writers and almost totally lacking in the British.”
Pictured top – One of the two letters that Bonhams are to sell on 10th August (left) and its “among the greatest short-story writers in English, or in any other language” – according to his fellow ‘New Yorker’ contributor Brendan Gill (1914 – 1997) – author John O’Hara (right).
A July 2013 ‘Chicago Tribune’ tribute to the “floating from one newspaper job to another… generally fired in a matter of months” author by Rick Kogan began: “John O’Hara was not a nice man, but he was, for a while, one hell of a great writer.” It ends: “As you might have guess, he wrote his own epitaph: ‘Better than anyone else, he told the truth about his time. He was a professional. He wrote honestly and well.’ ‘Better than anyone else?’ C’mon. ‘Honestly and well’? I can’t argue that.”Elizabeth Taylor starred in the 1960 drama film adaptation of O’Hara’s novel ‘BUttterfield 8” alongside her then husband Eddie Fisher. In spite of it being MGM’s biggest hit that year, Taylor “hated it” and cuttingly commented: “I still say in stinks.”“Witty” and known for being passionate about the “relationship of a man and his typewriter” David Lloyd – pictured with his son Christopher in 1998 with Emmy awards for ‘Frasier’ and the longtime owner of the letters and other lots to be offered on 10th August – died in November 2009 of prostate cancer. He was the co-creator of ABC’s ‘Modern Family’ and known for “his enormous first edition collection (a stunning number of which he actually read) and travelling the world with his leading lady.” His favourite restaurant, La Dolce Vita, has a dish named ‘Lambchops Lloyd’ on its menu in his honour.
