‘A touch of luxury without losing any sense of history’ – inside Raffles London at the Old War Office

I checked into the new Raffles London at the OWO, which recently opened in the storied former offices of Sir Winston Churchill

On a pale grey January morning in 1965, my mother, sister and I set out from Chelsea to walk to Whitehall. There, we were met at the Old War Office by my bowler-hatted father and his friend, who was someone important at the MOD. 

We were escorted past security to an upper-floor office and stationed in front of a street-facing window. I remember that this was a great honour; I remember the solemnity, the crowds, and the blue and white ranks of sailors flanking the gun carriage that bore the coffin of Sir Winston Churchill as it rolled by below. Most clearly, I must admit, I remember my new fluffy white hat, bought for the occasion.

And now, nearly 60 years later, here I am again in the building where Churchill had once held such sway and from which I’d had a ringside view of his state funeral. 

So much changes in a lifetime, and somehow, as I step inside Raffles London at the Old War Office on its opening night, I feel the full force of those changes in mine. Frankly, when I was a child growing up in London, it felt quite dull: yes, the Sixties were Swinging but the capital was so much quieter, with empty streets at night. Now, despite great challenges – social, economic, climate – London appears to be permanently en fête.