May 1, 2021 – Air Mail

Exclusive Inclusivity

Alessandra Stanley schools New York City educators and parents on the smart and easy solution to diversity education …

Not Our Kind

Nimrod Kamer looks at how Soho House, once the putative club of choice for the creative set, is selling out—and cutting the velvet rope …

Dumb and Dumber

Patrick Kidd examines the scandal surrounding two prime ministers: moneygrubbing David Cameron and ethics-averse Boris Johnson …

The Battle of the Exes

Joseph Bullmore dishes the dirt on an epic, burning-down-the-house divorce …

I Am a Camera

Joan Juliet Buck remembers June Newton, the force of nature behind her husband, the legendary Helmut …

Succession in a Sandstorm

In Jordan, the royal family is engaged in a bitter, dramatic battle that makes the goings-on at the House of Windsor look like Fawlty Towers …

Hollywood and Vines

Ashley Baker reveals that George Clooney has bought a wine château in the South of France …

Issue No. 94

The View from Here Want to cure “white privilege” at elite private schools? The solution is a bus ride away

By Alessandra Stanley

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Texting with an Ex Does the British government need a deep clean? David Cameron’s problems swell, and Boris Johnson gets blasted as “foolish” and “unethical”

By Patrick Kidd

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Château Clooney George and Amal snap up a wine-making estate in Provence

By Ashley Baker

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If You Think the House of Windsor Has Issues … A dynastic struggle in Jordan pits prince against prince, and queen against queen

By Louise Callaghan

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Meet You in Mexico City With a booming art-and-food scene and lax coronavirus rules, the Mexican capital is hotter than ever

By Elena Clavarino

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Divorced from Reality An aristocrat and his estranged wife sling accusations of bigamy and deception as the breakdown of their marriage leaves them both in financial ruin

By Joseph Bullmore

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The Ring Belperron If you’re planning to go all out this Mother’s Day, let Suzanne Belperron guide you. Born in 1900, Belperron helped modernize…

The Sandals Palapa Strappy little sandals are all well and good for the beach, but city dwellers need something more substantial. Enter Palapa,…

The Skin-Care Routine Dr. Barbara Sturm The most dermatologically savvy people live by Dr. Barbara Sturm’s products, and for good, scientific reason. We won’t…

The Smocked Dress Loretta Caponi In-the-know Italians have been patronizing Loretta Caponi’s Florentine atelier since it was founded, in 1967…

The Ring Belperron If you’re planning to go all out this Mother’s Day, let Suzanne Belperron guide you. Born in 1900, Belperron helped modernize…

The Sandals Palapa Strappy little sandals are all well and good for the beach, but city dwellers need something more substantial. Enter Palapa,…

The Skin-Care Routine Dr. Barbara Sturm The most dermatologically savvy people live by Dr. Barbara Sturm’s products, and for good, scientific reason. We won’t…

The Smocked Dress Loretta Caponi In-the-know Italians have been patronizing Loretta Caponi’s Florentine atelier since it was founded, in 1967…

“Before we start the date, here’s a list of things I have zero interest in talking about.”

Blue-Hair Specials The safest places to enjoy indoor dining in New York? Follow AIR MAIL’s “Three out of six” rule. And take your Tums

By John Brodie

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The Wheel Deal

Even if you’re not geared up to hit the pedal with Le Mans–level torque, it’s tough to argue with the notion of a satisfying pleasure drive. So for those who love the open road—or even just the trappings that it inspires—AIR MAIL presents these favorites to accompany life in the fast lane

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Photo: Arnaud de Rosnay/Condé Nast/Shutterstock (Crespi and Hutton)

Burning Down the House As Soho House heads toward an I.P.O., the members’ club for the creative set may see any remaining air of exclusivity go up in flames

By Nimrod Kamer

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Afternoon of a Fawn An audio play re-creates what went down when Dame Edith Sitwell met Marilyn Monroe

By Liam Kelly

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We’re Crashing at Clooney’s Where do you want to go, now that Europe is welcoming vaxxed Americans?

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Meghan Markle’s Puppy Love? And other curious news about these strange days

By George Kalogerakis

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American Eden Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the newly rejuvenated High Hampton resort offers access to paradise

By Mark Rozzo

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“Ah, the innocence of youth. Enjoy it while it lasts.”

Sweat XTRA Lockdowns have been good for the virtual workout space. Peloton is the new status symbol. Melissa Wood has the bulkiest men…

Tour The Moonstruck House So named for its role in the 1987 film starring Cher and Nicolas Cage, the Brooklyn Heights brownstone…

Eat Eleven Madison Home Among the four-star restaurants in New York that have yet to reopen is Daniel Humm’s masterpiece…

Watch A Film-and-Television Guide to Bad Mothers In preparation for Mother’s upcoming day, a film festival of sorts. Start with the canon’s matriarch…

Sweat XTRA Lockdowns have been good for the virtual workout space. Peloton is the new status symbol. Melissa Wood has the bulkiest men…

Tour The Moonstruck House So named for its role in the 1987 film starring Cher and Nicolas Cage, the Brooklyn Heights brownstone…

Eat Eleven Madison Home Among the four-star restaurants in New York that have yet to reopen is Daniel Humm’s masterpiece…

Watch A Film-and-Television Guide to Bad Mothers In preparation for Mother’s upcoming day, a film festival of sorts. Start with the canon’s matriarch…

Where the Magic Happens Beatrice Monti della Corte has been welcoming writers to her villa in Tuscany for what feels like forever. Ralph Fiennes and Edmund White recount the extraordinary experience of being there

Photographs by François Halard

8

“One of the sad aspects of being a writer is that one’s calling needs so few props,” writes John Banville. “I enter the studio of a painter friend and am at once filled with envy of all the stuff he requires for his work.... Whereas the extent of my necessities is a pen, some paper to write on, a keyboard, and a screen.”

“When I’m at Santa Maddalena, I sleep with Bruce Chatwin,” writes Michael Cunningham. “Not, of course, the actual, corporeal Bruce Chatwin, who died in 1989 at the age of forty-eight. I sleep in his former bed, in his former room, at the top of the signal tower.”

An oversize guest book sits at the entrance to Santa Maddalena. This page marks the visit of the great Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies.

“I owe a lot to the library, which I don’t call the library, but the Billiards Room,” writes Juan Gabriel Vásquez. “There were no ivory balls, no cues or racks hanging from the walls, but that table, covered with the news of the day, became a favorite spot of mine. Billiards tables, you see, are extraordinary reading places.”

Santa Maddalena was initially a farmhouse in which domestic animals were kept on the ground floor.

The only room at Santa Maddalena that doesn’t contain artwork is the kitchen, which is decorated simply with wall tiles transported from a 17th-century Sicilian castle.

Giulietta takes in some afternoon sun.

All but a handful of the dogs that have lived at Santa Maddalena have been pugs. Alice, pictured here, would spend the days with Zadie Smith when she was visiting.

Read On

Peter Frankopan On

Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes

by Barnaby Phillips

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Cullen Murphy On

Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night

by Julian Sancton

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Heartbreak Hotel Isabelle Huppert is now occupying one of the grandest suites in Paris

By Alexander Lobrano

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June Newton Helmut Newton was “the King of Kink,” but his wife, who died at 97 in Monte Carlo, was the mastermind behind the camera

By Joan Juliet Buck

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“Trust me, you won’t miss the air when you see this closet space.”

Sam Shahid

The advertising impresario answers 35 of life’s most pressing questions

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View on Spotify

Tip of the hat to Uncle Joe, for millions of vaccine shots delivered—and much more to come.

Air Mail

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