An article on London’s exclusive Eaton Square, published in The Daily Telegraph on April 2, listed a number of famous people who have lived in it, including Stanley Baldwin and Sean Connery. One well-known name, however, was omitted, as the attached letter published on April 7, pointed out.
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Sir--One well-known name that never features on lists of the rich and famous who have lived in Eaton Square, “the grandest, most glamorous residential address in London” ( “ Charmed circle who lay claim to the square”, Apr.2) is Joachim von Ribbentrop, who was to be hanged at Nuremberg in 1946. He lived at number 37 between 1936 and 1938 while he was Hitler’s ambassador at the Court of St James’s (where he disgraced himself by greeting George VI with a Nazi salute).
Ribbentrop was the tenant of Neville Chamberlain, bringing the dark shadow of appeasement to the square. Chamberlain’s family business was in decline and he needed the money that the wealthy former champagne salesman could readily afford.
There is one small consolation for today’s residents concerned about the stigma. Ribbentrop had no influence whatsoever on Chamberlain who rapidly formed a “most unfavourable opinion” of him, as he made clear to his family in 1936.
Lord Lexden
London SW1