Dear Reader,

So, did you go out or stay in? That is the question. Of course, the joke is you can only do one or another but we hope you’re loving our new format newsletter that started this week. My staying in meant subscribing to my friend (I say that loosely in that we sat next to each other once and got girl crushy over our mutual cowboy encounters) Clover Stroud’s Substack. She’s a beautiful writer but this week she took Ozempic as her theme and gave us an honest, fully rounded thought piece about how potentially regressive this new skinny drug can be. It goes without saying that for those who suffer diabetes and/or are clinically obese, there is a huge need; for others – who are doing it for aesthetic reasons – it becomes more problematic, especially when it’s really telling us to be smaller and take up literally less space if we want to fit in as women. I know it’s far more nuanced than that – and like Clover, I’ve mentally fantasised about going on it. As some of you may know, this summer I got seriously fit through hard grind and eating ‘perfectly’ – but three months later, the ‘perfect’ has all but dissipated and the weight has come back (not that I’m saying I’m overweight, but you know…). Fat is complicated. Being female is complicated. And Ozempic has made it a whole load more so. Anyway, give it a read and see what you think.

Going out? I got my glad rags on and attended the incredible British Fashion Awards. You wouldn't have seen me on the red carpet though, I scuttled in so I wouldn't take up too much space. Sigh. 

Have a great week.

Lucy Cleland
Editorial Director

Staying In

Get started on festive decorating

According to tradition, you might have already started decorating your house for Christmas; advent began this year on Sunday 30 November. Perhaps you’ve yet to start (or object to tinsel before mid-December) but you won’t find Laura Jackson leaving it down to the wire – the writer and broadcaster collects tidbits and paper scraps year-round to create personal Christmas decorations that can be strung from the ceiling or in garlands. Her tips for curating the perfect festive table? ‘My daughter and I make a hand-painted menu each year, and I always create painted place settings for everyone. That’s probably my favourite tradition.’ Steal her other hacks here, and get inspired with this year’s hottest Christmas decor trends, from the Nancy Meyer look to tartan and bows.

Watch Jay Kelly on Netflix

Streaming on Netflix from today, George Clooney’s lead role in Jay Kelly isn’t a far stretch from the actor’s reality. Directed by the Oscar nominated Marriage Story (2019) director and Barbie (2023) co-writer Noah Baumbach, Clooney is the titular character, a famous actor wrestling with a later-life crisis. In an effort to dispel the inner turmoil, he and his devoted manager Ron (Adam Sandler) impulsively trail Kelly’s daughter’s pre-college Eurosummer trip, with his fading career, past choices and fracturing familial relationships all rumbling to the fore.

Nourish your skin for winter

Skin feeling a little worn from the cold? Not for long. Settle in for a night of pampering with HydroPeptide’s brand new medical-grade range, made up of the Reactivate Rx Serum and Reactivate Rx Moisturiser Pro-Collagen Night Complex. Formulated using more than 65 clinically proven peptide complexes, the pair work at a cellular level to boost collagen, firmness and elasticity. Does this next generation product duo signal a new era of regenerative aesthetics? You won’t have to wonder; we put this mighty serum and its night complex companion to the test and are now bona fide fans.

Going Out

Dine at new eatery Tower House

If you love Gold in Notting Hill, we’ve got good news: the team behind it have launched an equally gorgeous new restaurant, Tower House in Richmond. Taking over the 19th-century clock tower that has long housed Pitcher + Piano, Tower House shares Gold’s head chef Theo Hill, offering a Mediterranean-inspired, sharing-style menu. We were among the first to try it and highly recommend the buttery pumpkin ravioli, the sumac roasted carrots and the ‘nduja chicken with sourdough and parma ham (a Gold signature). The best seat in the house is in the plant-filled downstairs dining room beside the large windows, which offer riverside views – plus, get in there early for a spot on the soon-to-open terrace, sure to be a mega-hit come summertime. thisistowerhouse.com

Experience real-life Palm Royale

Devoured season two of Apple TV’s sun-dappled drama Palm Royale? Have a taste of the glam Palm Beach life at The Colony hotel in Florida, which has been reimagined as the eponymous country club at the heart of the series. The property’s famed pool deck and pastel-hued spaces have been given a makeover from Aussie brand Business & Pleasure Co., drenching the beach parasols and lounge chairs in a vibrant retro pattern, while nostalgic cocktails and desserts have been added to the menu. Book the Stay Royale package to live out your own Palm Royale fantasy: stay in the hotel’s penthouse and cruise around the town’s palm-lined streets in a vintage convertible, donning ‘60s-inspired looks curated by stylist and fashion editor Katherine Lande – all while being waited on by your own personal butler. The Palm Royale Experience runs until January 2026, book at thecolonypalmbeach.com

Book The Great Christmas Feast

London’s festive theatre scene is top-notch, but the real hottest ticket is The Great Christmas Feast, an annual sell-out blending a decadent dinner with a blow-away performance and spine-tingling live music from a string trio. If the whole ‘immersive theatre’ vibe feels yawn-worthy in 2025, trust us when we say this is immersion at its most authentic. The whole premise surrounds a dinner in Charles Dickens’ parlour as he delivers a dramatic reading of his new ghost story (you may well have heard of it), A Christmas Carol. Tuck into Victorian-inspired fare between chapters; think potted hot smoked salmon, roast duck and a Twelfth Night cake. christmasfeast.thelostestate.com

Three of the Best…

Festive Hotels

Where do travel editors spend their Christmas breaks?

Gstaad Palace, Switzerland

‘We've been going since we were children, so we've kind of grown up in its bars and its nightclubs. It's like a children's drawing of a castle on the top of a hill with the fairylit chalets of the town spread all around it in its snowy skirts. But it's the lobby here that is unlike any other lobby in the world, and everyone passes through. One New Year’s Eve I danced with John Travolta. And one Christmas evening my husband and I sat on the floor – totally gripped – as Roger Waters told us the whole story of how Pink Floyd broke up.’ palace.ch

Melinda Stevens, ex Conde Nast editor-in-chief and founder of travel agency Salt Lick Creative

Cliveden House, Berkshire

‘There’s no place like home at Christmas, and for me, Cliveden House is just about close enough to home that upgrading my little Victorian terrace for one of the most cinematic country house hotels in the UK feels like the ultimate winter luxury. A couple of years ago I attended a pre-Christmas feast in the French Dining Room, and not only was it the most picture-perfect meal I’ve ever had, the misty morning-after walk through the manicured frosted gardens had me feeling as festive as St Nicholas himself.’ clivedenhouse.co.uk

Rebecca Cox, C&TH’s online content director

Schloss Elmau, Germany

‘Family-owned Schloss Elmau is the OG of festive hotels: snowy views of the Bavarian Alps; insanely delicious, deeply comforting food in various restaurants (don't miss the fondue in the Kaminstüberl); stonking spas (plural) to hide away in, including steamy outdoor pools fringed by snow; and a world-class concert hall for carols. Plus a visiting Father Christmas, complete with a horse-drawn sleigh, handing out gifts to the delighted kids – all a good reminder that the Germans basically invented Christmas.’ schloss-elmau.de

Francisca Kellett, C&TH’s travel editor-at-large

Staying in Forever…

Property Of The Week

Located on its very own private island on the River Thames, this historic home lays claims to the very spot where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215 – plus a table inlaid with stone on which the charter was sealed. And in case that’s not enough of a dinner party boast for you, the grounds also hold a tree planted by Queen Elizabeth II and President Nixon during a 1974 visit.

On the market for £4.5m. Find out more at waterview.co.uk

Competition Time

Win a £4.5m Lake District home plus £250,000 with Omaze

Win a two-night stay at Longueville Manor in Jersey

Win a bespoke wellness experience from Napiers worth £750

Psssst…

Spotify Wrapped dropped this week, revealing Taylor Swift has been dethroned as the platform’s most streamed artist by Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny.

The Full Story

Shelf Life: Lady Glenconner

Olivia Emily meets Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting Anne Tennant, Dowager Baroness Glenconner

Not many people can truly say they have lived a storied life – but there’s no denying that Lady Glenconner fits the bill.

Growing up at Holkham Hall in Norfolk, Anne was a playmate of the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret who lived just down the road at Sandringham. And when Elizabeth was elevated to heir presumptive, they brought Anne with them: aged 21, she was one of six maids of honour at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, but gradually developed a closer friendship with Margaret, becoming a lady-in-waiting in 1971.

‘I have lots of lovely memories of Princess Margaret,’ Anne tells me over the phone from her countryside home. ‘You know, I am so fond of her. I had a wonderful time with her. And Colin gave me an amazing time in Mustique actually, with all of the parties that went on there.’ She is of course referring to her late husband Colin Tennant, who purchased the Caribbean island of Mustique in 1958, gifting a 10-acre plot to Princess Margaret as a wedding present in 1960. This would become Les Jolies Eaux, the Princess’ famously favoured holiday home.

Lady Glenconner has explored all of these memories across both fiction and non-fiction books, with a new A to Z of new anecdotes now on the shelves, titled Manners & Mischief. ‘I’m now 93 and my publishers always wanted me to write something else [after the huge success of 2019’s Lady in Waiting and 2022’s Whatever Next], so I thought, well, I’ll do something,’ Anne says.

And the memories are all fresh in her 93-year-old mind, having just rifled through her belongings ahead of a Bonhams sale titled Lady Glenconner: My Life in Objects. Items up for auction include a nine-carat gold Cartier box gifted by Queen Elizabeth II, a pair of Victorian silver-gilt salts from Princess Margaret, an eighteenth century painting, cutlery, furniture, crockery and more plus Lady Glenconner’s wedding dress designed by Sir Norman Hartnell and photographs of Anne (then Lady Anne Coke) in said dress on her wedding day snapped by Cecil Beaton and Anthony Armstrong Jones (aka Lord Snowdon).

It was the clothes in particular that brought the memories to the fore, with two gowns designed for the Peacock Ball also up for sale. ‘One changes shape,’ Lady Glenconner quips. ‘I’m rather hoping my wedding dress might be bought by a museum. It’s a beautiful dress.’

Upon the news of her auction and her latest book hitting the shelves, Lady Glenconner tells us about Scottish adventures during the war and her love of Molly Keane in this month’s edition of Shelf Life. You can find her 10 treasured and memory-provoking picks here.

(And yes, there was a Lady Glenconner character in The Crown.)