Holly Village

Holly Village, which faces the far end of Highgate East Cemetery; somewhere I had been familiar with since I was a youngster, and became intimately acquainted with when I befriended the late Lynsey de Paul (11 June 1948 – 1 October 2014) who was a well known English singer-songwriter. She had the only house with a tower, and some exquisite stained glass windows. We had much in common, especially a love of Pre-Raphaelite art. She was such a delightful and fun person to be around. A fairy creature. My dear friend and London Secretary, Diana, who lived in Highgate Village where she had an art gallery, tried to persuade me to buy one of these bijou houses in the 1980s. I considered it, and viewed one that was for sale, but found it far too small. They are all quite small (as, of course, was Lynsey de Paul), and at the time I was looking to relocate further out of London from where I was then situated, ie Hampstead Garden Suburb. Above, I am seen in an almost antique vintage photograph at Holly Village in the early 1960s. I found it recently in my collection. Little did I know what lay ahead.

Lynsey de Paul

Lynsey did not marry. She was romantically involved with Dudley Moore, Chas Chandler, Roy Wood, Ringo Starr, James Coburn, Bill Kenwright, Dodi Fayed, Sean Connery, George Best, Bernie Taupin and David Frost.

Prince Charles was also enamoured with Lynsey de Paul. The two met at a charity dinner party at The Ritz in Piccadilly. In his book Settling Down, James Whitaker, the Daily Mirror's royal editor, wrote, "Fellow guests that night sat entranced as the Prince grew more and more friendly towards Lynsey, clearly bowled over by the diminutive singer's looks and bubbly personality."

Lynsey was a patron of the Spike Milligan Statue Memorial Fund and was present for the unveiling of the statue in his honour in September 2014. The sculptor commissioned to make the statue was John Somerville who was a good friend of my wife, a sculptress, and I until we moved from Hertfordshire.