The Downfall of 'Lord' Davenport

The Emmanuel's famous wedding gown

The Shuttle exclusively revealed in December last year that 33 Portland Place, the home of 'Fast Eddie' Edward Davenport was used to film part of The King's Speech. Now the resident of the grand London terrace has been banged up for 8 years in prison for perpetuating one of the most common scams today-the offer to raise non-existent multi-million dollar loans on payment of an up front substantial fee. Dozens of conned souls have lost millions.

Sadly one of Eddie's victims was another Shuttle discovery, the designer Elizabeth Emmanuel who has lost her life savings to the ghastly rogue.
Many moons ago The Shuttle was commissioned by a New York nightclub to bring a host of the newest up and coming British fashion designers to the Big Apple for a series of parades. Elizabeth and her then husband David Emmanuel were two struggling designers operating out of a minuscule West End studio when we chose them as designers of refreshingly new and romantic designs.

The subsequent fashion spread featuring the Emmanuel's clothes in the US prestigious Woman's Wear Daily brought them to the attention of the British media and three years later they were commissioned to design the dress of the century, Princess Diana's famous wedding gown in her marriage to Prince Charles in 1981.

But why did London ever fall for this con-man and is he a symptom of the instant celebrity culture that has invaded British society?.

His pompous website, replete with incorrect spellings of names reeks of self-promotion with a series of snaps of Eddie with a host of movie actors and pop stars.

Most of the pictures were taken at the various events held at Portland Place which Eddie hired out for parties to PR companies. Large West End houses that can be hired by the night are rare so obviously the venue was popular. Most homeowners, except the most desperate are sensible enough to never allow a bunch of wannabes and certainly a film crew to trample their muddy boots through their rooms.

33 Portland Place

                                                                         
Tales abounded from those who hired Portland Place of Eddie's penchant for attending every bash with his own snapper and muscling in on the action by button-holing any celebrity for a snap. Boy George is reputed to have said after posing with Eddie :"who the fuck was that?. I thought he must be the butler"

The British tabloids duly reported every phony aspect of Eddie's life as though it were fact, from the hired luxury cars and planes that Eddie claimed to be his to his supposed wealth and never twigged to the fact that Davenport's family tree seems oddly free of aristocratic titles yet he claimed his was an inherited one.

As for Portland Place-it was purchased for a small sum in a highly dubious deal that some have likened to a classic pea and thimble trick. So clever was the dream Davenport weaved when obtaining the lease  that government officials from the impovererished country of Sierra Leone who owned the premises (and may still) are still scratching their heads as to how Fast Eddie ended up with the deeds to the graceful mansion.

British newspapers are still slipping up on facts-one has claimed that Eddie's Thai 'girlfriend' was in tears in the court. "Girl friend?" Eddie may feel right at home amongst the chaps at Wandsworth Prison.
As for the Daily Mail's decimation and exposure of Fast Edward Davenport's exagerated claims of wealth, perhaps they could have mentioned the magazine that leant credence to the Davenport Fantasy : The Mail on Sunday!