Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

Why didn’t I celebrate Oscar Wilde’s birthday?

A super party packed with top people — yet I couldn’t bring myself to go through the doors

On Wednesday 19 October at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in London, a reception was held to celebrate Oscar Wilde’s birthday. Invited by the excellent Gyles Brandreth, I arrived in good time. But as I approached the doors of the reception room, something stopped me.

These are the facts.

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