Squatters have taken over the enduring San Lorenzo restaurant, which was as soon as Princess Diana’s favorite eatery and likewise counted a stunning array of A listers amongst its clients, MailOnline can reveal.
The trendy restaurant in London’s unique Knightsbridge served the wealthy and well-known for six many years, turning into generally known as one of many world’s premier movie star hangouts.
Positioned only a stone’s throw from Harrods and Harvey Nichols in Beauchamp Place, its most devoted buyer, Princess Diana would typically take William and Harry for lunch there.
The Rolling Stones as soon as famously rang the bell on its entrance door at 3am demanding dinner after a late-night recording session whereas others who usually feasted on its positive Italian delicacies included Diana Ross; Joan Collins; Madonna; Jack Nicholson; Kate Moss and Sir Rod Stewart, to call however a number of.
Twiggy held her twenty first birthday celebration at San Lorenzo whereas Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton selected it to have a good time their 1966 World Cup win and any reunions over time.
It’s not the primary time squatters have focused high-end hospitality venues, with Gordon Ramsay’s pub and Marco Pierre White’s deserted West Finish steak restaurant additionally struggling incursions.
Squatters have taken over the positioning of Princess Diana’s favorite restaurant in Knightsbridge
A lady contained in the restaurant – which closed throughout Covid – smiles on the digital camera
Princess Diana leaving San Lorenzo in 1994, when the restaurant was in its heyday
San Lorenzo closed at first of the pandemic after which didn’t reopen, remaining empty for the previous 4 years till final month when it was taken over by 15 squatters who describe themselves as a ‘musicians collective.’
Residents and employees on Beauchamp Place revealed that the stench of marijuana now wafts out of the San Lorenzo together with ‘loud, banging’ music which they cried had ruined one of many nation’s most unique streets.
Mark Byron, supervisor of a magnificence clinic adjoining the San Lorenzo advised MailOnline: ‘It is heart-breaking to see how such a well-known London landmark has been changed into a dirty squat.
‘We’ve got shoppers from all around the world who pay some huge cash for our remedies and it is placing them off from coming right here as a result of all you may scent is marijuana and the noise air pollution is unbelievable.’
Miri, a specialist everlasting make-up artist on the clinic, the place remedies price something as much as £5,000 added: ‘I prefer to placed on enjoyable music for my shoppers within the therapy room and all we are able to hear is booming noise. The home windows are shaking and there is individuals exterior smoking marijuana, consuming beer and making a nuisance.
‘It is terrible and we do not say something to them as a result of we’re too afraid. Additionally they have a canine that is the dimensions of a horse.’
As customers meandered alongside Beauchamp Place carrying baggage from unique designer boutiques, a number of scruffily dressed squatters went out and in of the San Lorenzo’s shabby entrance entrance, which is now a distant reminder of its wonderful previous.
One man who refused to offer his title however mentioned that he was a ‘spokesperson’ for the squatters advised MailOnline: ‘We noticed that this constructing was empty and located a gap and have now made it our house.
‘We’re all musicians and are literally taking care of this constructing as a result of it was in a very unhealthy state. Squatters get a nasty press, however I do not perceive why as a result of we now have carried out a whole lot of repairs, embellished it and made it look good. What’s improper with that?’
He added: ‘This can be a very unique space and it is onerous to search out an empty property like this round right here. We’re talking with the house owners of San Lorenzo as a result of we want to stay within the constructing and change into its guardians. We’re good individuals and will not be inflicting a nuisance. Lots of the locals truly like us.’
The squatter refused to permit MailOnline contained in the San Lorenzo however shared photos of the work he claimed that had been carried out to ‘restore it.’
He added: ‘We’ve got two cats and a hamster and have moved all our stuff in. It is a great place to stay. I did not know in regards to the historical past of this place till we got here right here. It is wonderful to assume that folks like Princess Diana and different celebrities visited on a regular basis and now it is our house.’
The skin of the restaurant on Beauchamp Place in London. At its peak the spot was a preferred movie star hang-out
A double mattress and a widescreen TV arrange inside the previous San Lorenzo restaurant
Well-known faces: Sting and his spouse Trudie leaving the restaurant (left) and proper – Liz Hurley with Henry Dent Brocklehurst
Pierce Brosnan (left) and Pele (proper) have been additionally clients on the famed institution
Rod & Rachel Stewart with Ronnie & Jo Wooden at San Lorenzo’s
The restaurant was opened in 1963 by Mara Berni and her husband Lorenzo Berni, who began with solely 9 tables however quickly grew the enterprise because it began attracting glamorous diners.
Princess Diana used to name Mara her ‘Mom Confessor’ as a result of she was such a trusted confidante and was mentioned to have psychic abilities.
The restaurant proprietor picked up on Diana’s unhappiness in her marriage to Prince Charles lengthy earlier than it turned public and likewise famously advised Madonna she was pregnant earlier than the singer realised herself.
Mara ran the restaurant with Lorenzo, till her dying in 2012 aged 79. Their daughter, Marina, then took over.
Mara’s maternal granddaughter, Marella Berni hit again on the squatters, claiming that they’d ‘insulted’ the legacy of her grandparents.
Combating again the tears she advised MailOnline: ‘These squatters are a shame and are telling lies. The constructing was not in disrepair as a result of we have been taking care of it. It broke our hearts after we determined to shut the restaurant however it’s nonetheless ours and it is a part of the reminiscence and legacy of our household.
‘Each time I stroll previous the San Lorenzo I simply cry. All I can scent is medication and all you may hear is loud music. It is insulting to the reminiscence of my grandparents and their onerous work. These squatters will not be good individuals as a result of in the event that they have been, they’d not be breaking into different individuals’s property and treating it like this.’
Ms Berni revealed that the household, which divides its time between London and Italy, has contacted attorneys and is within the means of beginning eviction proceedings.
She added: ‘It is absurd that they will simply go right into a constructing like this and take it over. They’ve trashed the place and made life for individuals dwelling and dealing round right here worse and if they are saying something completely different, it is garbage.’
The squatters have been capable of quickly take possession of the San Lorenzo as a result of it’s categorised as a business property.
Underneath current laws, squatting is just a legal offence if it includes a residential property which can lead to fast eviction, six months imprisonment and a positive of as much as £5,000.
However squatting of business premises just isn’t a legal offence, which means landlords need to pursue authorized motion that may be prolonged and dear.
The constructing has been taken over by 15 squatters who describe themselves as a ‘musicians collective’
Folks have been seen coming and going from the closed restaurant on Beauchamp Place
Photos offered of the within of San Lorenzo by one of many squatters exhibiting a black cat resting on a chair
The restaurant closed at first of the pandemic after which didn’t reopen, remaining empty for the previous 4 years till final month
Many squatters additionally elevate arguments like freedom of expression and freedom of meeting, which comes below the Human Rights Act, in relation to business properties, additional complicating the authorized course of to get them out.
They are often prosecuted if it may be proved that they’ve damaged right into a business property.
The San Lorenzo squatters spokesperson insisted: ‘I am not going into the main points of how we received in, however we didn’t break in.
‘Let’s simply say we noticed a gap. We’re in communication with the attorneys for the restaurant and exhibiting them that we ought to be allowed to proceed dwelling right here.
‘We’ve got no downside with the Berni household. We even wrote a track for them in Italian to indicate that we imply no hurt.’
He additionally refused to disclose if the squatters had modified the locks on the restaurant however admitted that he moved to stay there from Manchester, the place he had been squatting a business property for the previous 18 months.
With a authorized battle for the San Lorenzo set to happen and the squatters anticipated to stay for the foreseeable future, locals feared in regards to the persevering with influence on the realm.
Tony Mousa, supervisor of the Maroush restaurant, which is immediately reverse the San Lorenzo mentioned: ‘This can be a very quiet, unique neighbourhood and a whole lot of my clients don’t love these squatters.
‘They’re a large number and behave badly, we’re not used to that round right here. However I am extra shocked that they will simply stroll into an empty constructing like this, and nobody can do something. The regulation is a joke, and my coronary heart goes out to the Berni household.’
A discover warning that the positioning of the previous Lorenzo restaurant is a ‘non-residential constructing’
Tony Mousa, supervisor of the Maroush restaurant, which is immediately reverse the San Lorenzo mentioned: ‘This can be a very quiet, unique neighbourhood and a whole lot of my clients don’t love these squatters’
Different unique hospitality venues focused by squatters embrace Gordon Ramsay’s pub in Regent’s Park.
A gaggle locked themselves contained in the York & Albany for 10 days in April.
They boarded up the home windows, locking the doorways and placing up a ‘authorized warning’ defending their takeover.
Legal professionals for Gordon Ramsay Holdings Worldwide Restricted (GRHI) secured a Excessive Court docket order for the possession of the premises, and squatters have been seen leaving in pairs.
The constructing was re-secured by bailiffs, with Mr Ramsay shelling out £7,000 to scrub it up.
One other incident in April noticed police pressured to filter Marco Pierre White’s deserted steak and pizza restaurant within the West Finish after it was additionally squatted.
As much as ‘400’ individuals had been dwelling within the four-storey constructing in Leicester Sq. earlier than neighbours seen them ‘queuing for what seemed like a giant occasion’ and alerted the council.
The favored restaurant – which offered £20 cuts of steak, £15 bowls of pasta and salads for £8.50 – had undergone a £1.5million refurbishment earlier than it closed earlier this yr.
Different unique hospitality venues focused by squatters embrace Gordon Ramsay’s pub in Regent’s Park
A gaggle locked themselves contained in the York & Albany for 10 days in April earlier than finally being cleared out
One other incident in April noticed police pressured to filter Marco Pierre White’s deserted steak and pizza restaurant within the West Finish after it was additionally squatted
As much as ‘400’ individuals had been dwelling within the four-storey constructing in Leicester Sq. earlier than neighbours seen them ‘queuing for what seemed like a giant occasion’ and alerted the council
