Sorry, but we won’t accept Cash, says The Garrick Club
AS THe founder of a magazine for the super-rich as well as being the son of a Tory grandee, William Cash is used to having an entree to all the most exclusive parties.
There is, however, one establishment that has made it clear it does not want him as a member.
I can reveal that much-married Cash, 52, has been blackballed by the Garrick, the 188- year- old gentlemen’s club in London’s Covent Garden, whose members include comedian Stephen Fry, broadcaster Melvyn Bragg and Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville.
‘It’s a real snub,’ one member tells me. ‘His name was in the book of those seeking to be members, but now next to his name it says: “Not elected.” The page of names supporting his application has been ripped out of the book.’ The rejection has been particularly striking because Cash, a close friend of elizabeth Hurley, had been supported by biographer Tom Bower, who is known for his warts-and-all books about Jeremy Corbyn, Prince Charles and Sir Richard Branson.
Cash’s application is said to have been backed by up to 80 members. Mystery surrounds the reasons for the snub, but Cash’s love life has been much talked about over the years. THe
son of hardline Brexiteer Sir Bill Cash, William founded the magazine Spear’s Wealth Management Survey. His first wife was jewellery heiress Ilaria Bulgari, and his second was Venezuelan heiress Vanessa Neumann. His current wife is an earl’s daughter, Lady Laura Cathcart, and they live at Upton Cressett Hall, a Grade I- listed elizabethan manor in Shropshire.
William, whose father is a longstanding member of the Garrick, declines to comment.
However, one of his close friends tells me, melodramatically: ‘It’s a bizarre debacle and a miscarriage of justice. It’s due to a fundamental misunderstanding about some wholly incorrect information presented to the club’s committee.’
And the friend claims: ‘William and his father have both now received apologies from senior members. The majority of committee members think there has been a travesty of gentlemanly fair play. It is only a matter of time before he is admitted.’
I wonder what will happen first: Britain’s departure from the eU or Cash’s admission to the Garrick?