B Archives - The Swinging Sixties

thesixties

Cilla Black

English Singer & Television Presenter

Photographer, socialite, civil rights activist, pacifist

Stand-up Comedian, Social Critic & Satirist

Lamborghini trouser suit made by Celia Birtwell and Ossie Clark in 1969

Fashion designer, textile designer, model

Joan Baez performing in Hamburg, Germany (1973)

Folk Singer, Human Rights Activist, Anti-racism Campaigner & Peace Campaigner

Singer, Songwriter & Television Presenter

Bill Willis said to me: “You must meet a wonderful friend of mine, Victoria Brooke. She’s an amazing lady: she was married to Lionel Brooke, heir to the last white Rajah of Sarawak. I’ve just left her in Paul Getty’s house over in Cheyne Walk. May I use your phone and get her to come over?”

I agreed; perhaps a little reluctantly, as I was enjoying being alone with Bill, since by this time Christopher Gibbs had disappeared in his usual mysterious way. After a while, the door-bell rang again. “It’s all right, Rita!” I called as I went a little wearily to answer it. I opened the door, and then…

Victoria hit me like a thunderbolt.

It wasn’t so much her beauty that struck me, though she was undoubtedly very beautiful, with a good figure and very large appealing eyes. She had something else, something extraordinary and unforgettable: an aura which suggested that she was game for anything, that she was prepared to take anything that life threw at her. In her hands she was holding a wonderful tiger-lily.

“Are you Nicky?”

“Yes”

“This is for you.” She handed me the tiger-lily, and I took it as though it were a votive offering. “Are you going to let me in, then?”

To read more about Nicky's close friendship with Victoria Brooke, please buy a copy of 'Nicky Samuel: My Life and Loves' here:

Purchase Nicky Samuel: My Life and Loves

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Cilla Black

Peggy Biderman

Lenny Bruce

Celia Birtwell

Joan Baez

Marc Bolan

Victoria Brooke

Extract from "Nicky Samuel: My Life and Loves"

Nicky Samuel meets Victoria Brooke 5 November 1971

Nicky Samuel meets Victoria Brooke 5 November 1971

To read more about Nicky's close friendship with Victoria Brooke, please buy a copy of 'Nicky Samuel: My Life and Loves' here:

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