21 March 2013
Friends of the late Mark Birley, owner of Annabel’s and other founder Mayfair clubs, report an odd atmosphere at a preview party before the Sotheby’s auction of his possessions today.
Birley’s son Robin is known to be upset that many of the items, including silver boxes engraved with the names of staff and given as Christmas presents by his employees, are included in the sale run by his sister, India-Jane. She inherited most of Mark’s estate after a dispute with Robin. “It’s sad these things are not kept for future generations,” says Robin Birley’s friend David Wynne-Morgan.
