‘Overal waar Raffles een hotel opent, streeft het ernaar dat dit het beste hotel op die locatie is’, vertelt conciërge Emile van Raffles London in The OWO.

Mijn conclusie na een nachtje in ‘The Old War Office’? Mogelijk zijn ze daarin geslaagd in de Britse hoofdstad.

Dit enorme oogverblindende pand met 120 kamers, geopend als een Raffles hotel in september 2023, tot de nok toe gevuld met spannende geschiedenis, de service is onberispelijk en, zoals mijn videobeelden laten zien, zijn gasten genesteld in grandeur en verfijnde luxe, op een perfecte locatie – tegenover Horse Guards Parade en de officiële ingang naar Buckingham Palace.

Het trapeziumvormige gebouw werd gebouwd in Edwardiaanse barokstijl en werd in 1906 geopend als oorlogskantoor.

Het was tot 1964 het centrum van het bestuur van het Britse leger en bevatte 1.100 kamers; 4 km aan gangen; 22 liften; 25 miljoen stenen; 26.000 ton Portlandsteen; 50 hectare pleisterwerk; 6.000 meter aan decoratieve gietijzeren roosters geïnstalleerd rond gangen en gangen om telefoon- en beldraden te bevatten; en 18.000 vierkante meter Romeinse kubusmozaïek en terrazzovloeren.

Het gebouw was de plek waar MI5 en MI6 werden ontworpen en hoewel het niet als hoofdkwartier fungeerde, was het een dagelijkse werkplek voor spionnen, waaronder James Bond-auteur Ian Fleming, een contactpersoon voor de geheime inlichtingendiensten tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog.

Dit was waar de chef van de keizerlijke generale staf, Alan Brooke, Sir Winston Churchill hielp bij het beheersen van de geallieerde overwinning op Hitler.

Tijdens een fascinerende hotelrondleiding met Emile leerde ik meer over het boeiende verleden van het pand – en kreeg ik een voorproefje van enkele van de meest prestigieuze suites.

Inclusief misschien wel de bovenste kamer: de Haldane Suite. Prijs voor de nacht? Tussen £25.000 ($31.000) en £27.000 ($34.000), is mij verteld.

En wat krijg je daarvoor? Iets adembenemends.

De suite is vernoemd naar Sir Richard Burdon Haldane (30 juli 1856 – augustus 1928), die tussen 1905 en 1912 minister van Oorlog was en die hielp bij de oprichting van de Royal Flying Corps, MI5 en MI6.

De ruimte werd gebruikt door hem en daaropvolgende regeringsfiguren van grote betekenis.

De altijd minzame Emile legde uit dat vier ex-premiers – David Lloyd George, HH Asquith, Winston Churchill en Anthony Eden – de kamer zouden hebben bezet, samen met Herbert Horatio Kitchener (die de ‘Your Country Needs You’-campagne bedacht) en John Profumo, die in 1963 centraal stond in het eerste moderne seksschandaal.

Hij gebruikte clandestien de privélift van het kantoor om zijn minnares, het 19-jarige model Christine Keeler, binnen te halen.

De kamer bestaat nu uit twee weelderige slaapkamers aan weerszijden van een prachtige, statige woonkamer, met meubilair dat past bij een Edwardiaans paleis, decoratieve plafonds van 12,5 meter hoog, eiken lambrisering en grote ramen met uitzicht op Whitehall.

De privélift werd echter verwijderd.

Ik werd ook getoond in de Granville Suite, genoemd naar Winston Churchills favoriete spion, Christine Granville. Het kost ongeveer £17.000 ($21.500) per nacht en beschikt over een ensuite die een Hollywood-film waardig is, met douches en toiletten achter ondoorzichtige schermen in ‘cabines’ met pilaren en een juweel van een vrijstaand bad aan het uiteinde.

Emile leidde ons naar een van de twee oorspronkelijke kelderverdiepingen waar een telefooncentrale was geïnstalleerd die in werking kon treden bij een kernaanval – en onderweg wees hij op de originele gietijzeren roosters en vloeren in de gangen.

We eindigden waar we begonnen waren, bij de adembenemend grote marmeren trap van het hotel.

De staf van Winston Churchill stond in de rij om hem dagelijkse briefings te geven, waarbij de staatsman bovenaan stond, buiten wat nu de Haldane Suite is.

Tegenwoordig zorgt de trap ervoor dat de lobby van Raffles London, naar ieders maatstaven, een van de meest indrukwekkende ter wereld is, waarbij de Instagram-lokkende uitstraling wordt versterkt door een kroonluchter van Murano-glas in opdracht van het hotel.

Let wel, de allure van Instagram-baiting wacht om elke hoek.

Bezoek het zwembad, dat een ruimte in beslag neemt binnen de drie extra kelderverdiepingen die Raffles heeft gegraven, en je zult waarschijnlijk net zoveel tijd besteden aan het maken van foto’s als aan het zwemmen. Het is geweldig.

Onze ‘ministeriële suite’-slaapkamer, met zijn gedempte weelde, is ook een lust voor het oog.

Het heeft een marmeren badkamer waar ik niet alleen van droom, maar ook die van alle anderen, en uitzicht op de Household Cavalry die aan de overkant in de aandacht staat.

We dineerden ‘s avonds en voor het ontbijt in Saison, de voormalige militaire bibliotheek van WO met een glazen plafond die nu een weelderig restaurant van opmerkelijk kaliber is, geleid door de Argentijns-Italiaanse voedselwizard Mauro Colagreco.

Tijdens het diner was de pompoenravioli verrukkelijk, de wijnen per glas prachtig en de service geleverd met militaire precisie.

De normen bleven indrukwekkend hoog in de ochtend, met een attent en bruisend ontbijtteam dat ‘de beste Eggs Benedict’ bezorgde die mijn partner ooit had geproefd, pap met amandelvlokken waar elke inwoner van Schotland tevreden mee zou zijn, en eersteklas gebak.

De koffie wordt ook ten zeerste aanbevolen, waarbij Louis Roeder Champagne een optie is voor iedereen die het feest al vroeg op gang wil brengen.

We lieten onze tassen achter in het hotel terwijl we de Household Calvary-paarden aan de overkant ontmoetten en de National Portrait Gallery verkenden, een paar minuten lopen naar het noorden.

Toen we terugkwamen, begroette elk personeelslid dat we in de lobby passeerden ons met een vrolijk ‘welkom terug’.

Prins William had de week vóór ons verblijf het hotel bezocht voor een liefdadigheidsevenement.

Hij zou natuurlijk een koninklijke behandeling hebben gekregen, maar elke gast is een royalty bij Raffles London in The OWO.

Wat een plek.

In de strijd om de hotels in de hoofdstad heeft deze voormalige bijenkorf van militaire activiteit een verwoestend salvo gelanceerd.

An alleged spy working for MI6 was revealed by China’s security service on social media yesterday.

China’s Ministry of State Security accused British spies of ordering a foreigner to carry out espionage in China under the guise of working as the head of a foreign consultancy firm.

Following the spy scandal in Britain when Christine Lee was identified by MI5 as a communist agent at the heart of Parliament, it is alleged that a foreign national known by the surname Huang was sent to China to collect state secrets for the British intelligence service. .

According to Chinese officials, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service sent him several times to “China with instructions to use their public profile as a cover to gather China-related intelligence for Britain… and find other personnel for MI6 to turn to.” ‘ It alleged that Mr Huang was tapped by MI6 in 2015 and used his position at an unnamed foreign consultancy to gather China-related intelligence.

In a WeChat post, the ministry claimed Huang passed 17 pieces of intelligence, including confidential state secrets, to MI6 before he was identified.

He also received “professional intelligence training” in Britain and had used “specialist spy equipment” to transmit communications in a so-called “intelligence cooperative relationship”, it was said.

But China said an investigation “immediately discovered criminal evidence that Huang was involved in espionage activities and took criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law.”

The ministry statement revealed by Reuters did not mention Huang’s first name, employer or whereabouts, but if true, the details could be enough to blow his cover.

The decision to publicly reveal the surname of an alleged agent will be seen by some as revenge for Britain’s hardened stance against foreign spies trying to infiltrate British politics.

China and Britain have traded blows in recent months over spying allegations.

Chinese lawyer Christine Lee, 59, is currently suing MI5, claiming the security service ruined her life by sending a notice to MPs in 2022 warning that she was engaging in ‘political interference’ by donating to ‘political parties , parliamentarians, aspiring parliamentarians’ on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

In a similar vein to the last case involving a foreign consultancy firm, Lee had worked as a consultant at the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, an agency of the Communist Party’s influence network, supervised by the United Front Work Department.

In an unrelated case, Scotland Yard last year arrested a British national working as a parliamentary researcher in Westminster and accused of spying for China.

The man in his 20s was arrested in Edinburgh last March under the Official Secrets Act, along with another man in his 30s, who was being held in Oxfordshire.

A file of evidence has now been handed over to the Crown Prosecution Service to assess the charges.

China has repeatedly condemned the arrests, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson saying they were “completely unfounded.”

But British spy chiefs have recently warned about China’s increasingly aggressive attempts to steal British secrets.

In October, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said MI5 and police were committed to bringing criminal charges against Chinese spies working covertly in Britain.

“We are now in a different world than the one we have all lived in since the end of the Cold War,” he said.

‘Authoritarian states behave much more aggressively.’ Meanwhile, China has cracked down on perceived threats to its own national security.

Last year it expanded counterintelligence laws to give authorities more leeway in punishing vaguely defined threats to national security.

China has disclosed several other alleged espionage cases in recent months.

In May, authorities sentenced 78-year-old US citizen John Shing-wan Leung to life in prison for espionage.

In October, the Ministry of Security published the story of another alleged spy named Hou, who was accused of sending several classified and classified documents to the US.

The Foreign Office yesterday declined to comment on the claims.

The late queen had a ‘slight lack of confidence’ in her son Charles to take over The Firm and hired someone to act as ‘eyes and ears’ in the final months of her life, sources claim.

A passage in Endgame, by royal biographer Omid Scobie, claims that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, who died in September 2022 aged 96, came to accept that her health was deteriorating towards the end of the Covid pandemic.

It details how she hired Andrew Parker, Baron Parker of Minsmere, as the new Lord Chamberlain (the post for the senior officer of the Royal Household) in the spring of 2021; while the ‘slow transition’ to the reign of King Charles was underway.

Mr Scobie quotes royal sources as claiming that the decision to employ Baron Parker; The former head of MI5 pointed out the Queen’s “little lack of confidence” in her son, who she reportedly called “my new CEO” of The Firm during a conversation with a senior member of the royal family.

The claims come in the passage of the royal book being published in Britain at midnight; and which also includes details of the late monarch’s last days at Balmoral before she died on September 8.

Such details include members of the royal family each being allowed to have a private moment alone with Queen Elizabeth after her death in September 2022.

In Scobie’s description of September 8, when the queen died, her two eldest children, Charles and Anne, had been at her side all night; while Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Duchess Sophie and Prince William made the trip to Scotland that day; shortly before 4 p.m. and each got a private moment with her after her death.

Elsewhere in the book, the author describes how the Queen’s last summer at Balmoral was largely peaceful; but despite her ill health she continued to fulfill her duty – especially when it came to overseeing the change of British Prime Minister two days before her death.

Scobie writes that despite several palace aides encouraging the monarch to allow Prince Charles (who was staying less than 10 miles away) to accept Boris Johnson’s official resignation and carry out ‘kissing of hands’ with the incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss, the Queen insisted that she carry out this important task, telling the aides: ‘It’s my job.’

Scobie writes that the late monarch suffered “crippling pain” in private but publicly insisted she had to fulfill her royal duty.

He quoted people close to the palace as saying that the Queen’s last summer at Balmoral was filled with “walks, picnics and barbecues”, and that the monarch spent most of the time in the sun.

But despite a much slower pace of life due to her declining health, the monarch made sure her red box full of government papers was up to date every day and carried out her duty to the best of her ability.

The descriptions that delve into the royal family are among many explosive claims in Scobie’s book, which is being published in Britain at midnight.

Elsewhere, the royal author, who has worked for ABC, Harpers Bazaar and Yahoo, claimed there were two members of the royal family who made comments about Prince Archie’s skin color when Meghan was still pregnant with her son.

He claimed that letters between King Charles III and the Duchess of Sussex contained the names of the two people who allegedly made the comments.

The royal author, whose new book Endgame is released at midnight tonight, said he could not reveal the identities of the two people for fear of legal reprisals in Britain.

But he said letters were exchanged between Charles and Meghan following the allegations in the Sussexes’ bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America broadcast today, Mr Scobie was asked if he knew who made the comments about Archie’s skin colour.

He said: ‘I know who made the comments about Archie’s skin colour. The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged some time after the Oprah interview.

“We know from sources that Charles was shocked that Meghan felt this way. Those conversations were, and he wanted to be, a kind of representative of the family, having that conversation with her.

“And that’s why I personally think they can move forward with some kind of line of communication after that. Even though they may not agree.”

Scobie’s claims threaten to reignite the “royal racist” row that emerged after Harry and Meghan’s interview.

Meghan had claimed in the TV special that an unnamed member of the royal family talked about “how dark his (Archie’s) skin might be when he’s born.”

But it is now claimed that a second member of the extended royal family – who may not be a member of the royal family themselves – made similar comments.

The two people are not mentioned in Endgame, which is subtitled ‘Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival’.

The book makes a series of claims about the royal family and looks at its future following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September.

And Mr Scobie added to ABC: ‘I think before people assume I’m calling this the end of the Royal Family, I’ll simply state that we’ve reached some sort of pinnacle where the Royal Family as we know it is hanging in the balance .’

He also claims that Prince William is leaking stories about Harry.

Mr Scobie said: ‘He shared private information about his brother which not long later ended up on the front page of a newspaper. These are matters that have caused irreparable damage to mutual relations.’

He described William as a “journeyman” and said: “We have seen the emergence of a man who is much tougher, who seems to have embraced and embodied the royal institution.”

The ABC report also said that Harry is ready to end the rift between William, had tried to reach out to his brother and that the relationship with his father Charles “may be on the mend.”

Mr Scobie said: ‘There is a stable, open line of communication between the two where they can talk to each other. Where Harry, I would say, clearly understands that his father is probably not the most emotional or open person.”

The report on ABC said the interview with Mr Scobie also saw him claim he felt he was embroiled in family drama – and Meghan contacted him to check if everything was okay.

ABC claimed that Mr Scobie also says he is not that close to Harry and Meghan and that he ‘never chose Team Sussex’.

The interview will be broadcast tomorrow evening on Nachtlijn.

Mr Scobie today tweeted a link to the interview on worldwide release day of #ENDGAME.’

It is said that Mr Scobie’s book makes a series of claims regarding the Sussexes – including that William was involved in ‘things that happened about his own brother’, that the older brother ignored texts from Harry when the family were on the road was to Balmoral. before the late Queen died last year.

The book claims, among other things, that there is a rift between the King and William, that Queen Camilla has ‘quietly thanked’ Piers Morgan for ‘defending the Firm’ and that a timid Princess of Wales should be encouraged to issue orders to feed. .