The Secrets of Eaton Square: Sex, Scandal, and Infamy on the Road to Buckingham Palace

Windsor biographer Alexander Larman takes you behind the doors of Eaton Square, London's most sought-after address.

In the classic PBS series Upstairs, Downstairs, the aristocratic Bellamy family lived at the fictitious 165 Eaton Place, a grand home in one of London's most beautiful garden squares just minutes from Buckingham Palace. But, what really goes on behind the beautiful, polished doors of one of London's most sought-after addresses?

In The Secrets of Eaton Square: Sex, Scandal and Infamy on the Road to Buckingham Palace, Alexander Larman opens those doors wide to the scandalous social and political history of Eaton Square that begins in the eighteenth century and runs right up until today. With a cast of characters that includes everyone from Neville Chamberlain, Joachim von Ribbentrop (the lover of Wallis Simpson), Diana Mitford, Vivien Leigh, Margaret Thatcher, and even James Bond, Larman's book brings Eaton Square alive.

The list of luminaries and the powerful who lived on the square goes on and on today, from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Saatchi to today's parade of Russian oligarchs whose money has given the area a new moniker: "Red Square." No matter what it is called, Eaton Square remains an iconic byword for moneyed luxury and glamorous discretion that, at times, is the playground of off-duty royals. Let Alexander Larman unlock the doors of Eaton Square for you. He has all the keys...

Author: Alexander Larman
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 06/02/2026
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.53h x 6.42w x 1.07d
ISBN: 9781250381255


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 04/13/2026
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2026
Library Journal 05/01/2026 pg. 124

About the Author
ALEXANDER LARMAN is a British historian and journalist. He is the author of several acclaimed books of historical and literary biography, including Power and Glory, The Windsors at War, The Crown in Crisis, Byron's Women and Blazing Star. He is the books editor of Spectator World magazine, and writes regularly for the Observer, Telegraph and The Spectator. He lives in Oxford.