There was certainly cause to celebrate at 32 Portland Place last week, the £15 million west London mansion owned by Edward Davenport. The self-described “flamboyant entrepreneur”, also known as “Fast Eddie”, won a court battle to stop police from shutting down parties at his home. “Fighting. Won. Freedom to party,” the 58-year-old wrote on Instagram after the verdict was announced.
“I’m delighted,” he tells me by phone from his “penthouse apartment in Bangkok” where he now spends half his time. Davenport flew back to Thailand from London, having successfully challenged the closure order – which would have stopped anyone who wasn’t living at the property from entering it.
Met Police have reportedly been dispatched to the address 63 times over the last few years, after dozens of complaints from neighbours about excessive noise, allegations of drug taking, vomiting in the street and parking issues. Davenport’s lawyer argued in court that there was a “culture difference between a party-goer” like Davenport and the neighbours who complained.
“I’m somebody who likes to go out and entertain,” he says. “One of my neighbours is a corporate lawyer, another chap said he works 14 hours a day and needs quiet. I had to fight this case for everyone’s right to party. A lot of people buy these houses for huge amounts of money and leave them empty and no-one’s allowed to see them or enjoy them. Number 28 is empty, Number 30 is an empty office, Number 34 is the Polish consulate but it’s currently empty. I’ve been on Portland Place for more than 30 years and I want people to be able to have fun.”
To say Davenport “likes to go out” is quite the understatement. The son of a successful restaurateur, he was educated at the progressive boarding school Frensham Heights, in Surrey, and began selling clothes on a market stall at Portobello Road, in Notting Hill. At just 16, he began organising “Gatecrasher Balls” – decadent parties for public school pupils at plush country houses, such as Longleat in Wiltshire – and claims to have made his first million in his early twenties.
Guests at one of Davenport’s Gatecrasher Balls in 1988 – Shutterstock
But in 1990, aged 24, he was jailed for nine-months for failing to charge VAT for his tickets at Gatecrasher. He served just 16 days of his sentence. Asked by Tatler magazine how he coped with two weeks in prison, Davenport quipped: “Boring. There aren’t many parties there.”
After his release, he went into property development, controversially acquiring 33 Portland Place, the former embassy of Sierra Leone, at the height of the country’s civil war. He allegedly tricked the high commissioner into selling him the lease for just £50,000. He later obtained the freehold for £3.75 million.
Built in 1775 by neoclassical architect Robert Adam, the luxury home boasted 24-bedrooms, a jacuzzi, a ballroom and London’s only hydraulic wall. Davenport rented it out as a venue for parties and film shoots – Kate Moss shot an Agent Provocateur campaign there, Amy Winehouse made her Rehab video in the billiards room, and it featured as a location in the 2010 Oscar-winning film The King’s Speech.
A gathering at the house in 2005, organised by the Rothschild family, was attended by Princes William and Harry. On his website, Davenport boasts of rubbing shoulders with celebrity friends, such as David Beckham, Naomi Campbell and 50 Cent. At one point, his wealth was estimated at £102 million and he claimed to own a private jet and a vast collection of sports cars.
From 2005 onwards, the house hosted Killing Kittens events, upmarket hedonistic “adult” events organised by Kate Middleton’s school friend, Emma Sayle.
Davenport’s home at 32 Portland Place, London W1 – Andrew Crowley
Davenport also hosted a 300-strong sex party called Passing Fancies. “I started doing KK and Passing Fancies because it was a lovely way to meet people,” says Davenport. “It was a really fantastic crowd. People are suspicious of sex parties and think it means drugs and loud music but, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. People don’t want the music blaring as they want to hear each other.”
It was around this time that he started styling himself “Lord Davenport” after claiming to have won the right to use a title from a property he once owned in Shropshire. “I’m quite ambitious. I’ve got a lot of friends. I live quite a big lifestyle,” he said in 2008. “I’ve got a very nice flat in Monaco, so you have to have a lot of money coming in to keep this going.”
But in 2009, he was arrested and charged with conspiracy to obtain money by deception, conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, and money laundering. Using the alias James Stewart, Davenport had conned over 50 victims out of millions, including Elizabeth Emanuel, designer of Princess Diana’s wedding dress, who lost her savings after being promised a £1 million loan. Davenport denied all charges while the Serious Fraud Office built the case against him.
Meanwhile, the lavish parties at his pad continued and, in 2010, Westminster City Council brought legal action against Davenport, charging him with breaching a noise abatement order. The case was dismissed and Davenport was awarded £28,000 in costs.
Then the council brought an action at the High Court claiming that Davenport’s use of the property breached planning permission as Davenport had filled a swimming pool with 1,000 litres of cognac. This turned out to have been a publicity stunt for a US drinks brand, but a High Court judge issued a permanent ban on the use of the house for non-residential purposes.
In any case, Davenport’s partying days seemed to be done. In 2011, he was sentenced to seven years eight months in Wandsworth Prison for fraud.
’Fast Eddie’ outside Southwark Crown Court during his fraud trial in 2011 – Heathcliff O’Malley
He was released after three years because of health concerns – he went on to have two kidney transplants. While on bail, Davenport wore an ankle tag under the trouser leg of his Savile Row-tailored William Hunt suits. “You can’t win them all,” Davenport says, when I ask him about his time in jail. He denies any wrongdoing.
In 2015, he was forced to sell 33 Portland Place for £25 million to pay the Serious Fraud Office a £14 million Compensation and Confiscation Order. (It was bought by David Sullivan, the chairman of West Ham United, and is currently on the market for £65 million.) But the party wasn’t over – Davenport then bought the house across the road – 32 Portland Place – where the wild nights continued.
“He was like a Hugh Hefner figure, skulking around in a red velvet smoking jacket,” recalls Deborah, who attended a party at 32 Portland Place in 2019. “All the women were in lingerie and men were in suits. The house itself was quite bare and dilapidated, but I remember one room had a big white marble fireplace, and the basement had poles for women to dance on. There was also a VIP ‘Party Room’ where people were having sex.”
But attendees to parties at 32 Portland Place haven’t always had a good time. At last week’s court case it was revealed that there had been two allegations of rape at the house. The most recent happened in July, and is currently under investigation, while the other was dropped due to a lack of evidence.
Parties arranged by Davenport have also been linked to two murders, including that of bouncer Tudor Simionov, killed when he tried to stop gatecrashers from attending a party at a Park Lane apartment in 2019. Three men were jailed for the 33-year-old’s murder the following year.
A second incident, which took place in Lewisham but involved guests believed to have attended one of Davenport’s parties, is currently being investigated.
Davenport is said to ‘skulk’ around his parties in a velvet smoking jacket in the style of Hugh Hefner – Tony Buckingham/Shutterstock
None of the incidents involve Davenport personally. “That happened seven miles away from my house, it just so happened that the person involved had been there at some point in the night,” he says.
Now Davenport says he only hosts “art salons” at number 32 – small gatherings of 100 people which end around midnight, where artists can exhibit their work and network.
The big parties he throws these days are in Thailand. On his Instagram account, Davenport calls himself “Daddy” and regularly posts videos of himself partying and pouring bottles into the mouths of young Thai women.
Davenport has never married and claims to be “committed [to] partying and socialising”. It’s certainly been a colourful life for “Lord Fraud” – as the tabloids call him. Does he have any regrets? “No, it’s all been good fun,” he insists. “If there was no risk it would be boring.”
Although he’s nearly 60, he says he has no plans for retirement and says he likes the “Fast Eddie” moniker. “Well, it’s better than ‘Slow Eddie’,” he says.
