The actress made it safely to dinner, later sharing a photograph of her surrounded by friends and loved ones within the opulent surrounds of the restaurant. The group included her husband, Percy Gibson, along with Judy Craymer, the creator and producer of Mamma Mia, Stuart Machin, chief executive of Marks & Spencer and her fellow actor Christopher Biggins and his husband, Neil Sinclair.
However, she called for action to be taken to tackle the ‘problem’ of cyclists, writing in the caption:‘How much longer must we live with closed roads and cyclists who consider themselves above the law? Why don’t you do something, Sadiq Khan, before this beautiful city of London is ruined?’
Percy Gibson and Dame Joan Collins
David M. Benett/Getty Images
Rules Restaurant is the oldest restaurant in London, boasting gilt ceilings and plush velvet chairs. Founded in 1798, it is a social hotspot, with everyone from Charles Dickens to Sir Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan all visiting, as well as Paul Newman and Harrison Ford. The Rt Hon William Hague and his Tory co-workers were also said to spend time there when in office due to its proximity to Whitehall.
The upset of the encounter is far from the sophisticated elegance Dame Joan Collins typically enjoys of her evening soirees. In February last year, she hosted a star-studded birthday party at Claridge’ s, with guests including Elizabeth and Damian Hurley, Sarah, the Duchess of York, Poppy Delevingne and Emerald Fennell.
Responding to Collins’ Instagram post, a spokesperson for the Mayor of London told Tatler: ‘The Mayor is committed to making London as safe as possible for both cyclists and pedestrians. Walking and cycling have boomed in the last couple of years and the Mayor has built hundreds of kilometres of new or upgraded cycle routes since the pandemic, and completed work to make some of the capital’s most dangerous and intimidating junctions safer. The Mayor encourages everyone using London’s roads to do so safely to help make London the best city in the world to walk and cycle.’
