A new ‘superclub’ from the founders of Boujis, high society’s favourite noughties nightclub, has opened in Kensington hoping to woo the latest generation of royal and high society revellers – although there’s one name that’s not on the guest list.  

Gallery, on Kensington High Street – a stone’s throw from Kensington Palace – boasts a Cuban cocktail bar, Berlin-style club, members-only area and a pizza counter. Oh and 80 types of Tequila can be found in the bathrooms.

Entrepreneurs Barth Rougier, Steve Manktelow, Carlo Carello and Jake Parkinson-Smith are behind the plans, and say all the royals – including Princes William and Harry – are welcome at the new venue, except for one. 

‘Everyone is welcome – except Meghan,’ Carello told The Mail in February, an old – and one now assumes former – friend of Harry’s, who added: ‘I don’t like her.’ 

The doors at the club being dubbed Boujis 3.0 remain firmly open for Kate and William though. Carello points the Prince and Princess of Wales went on ‘one of their first dates at Boujis’, saying they drank Crack Babies and they loved it.’

A Crack Baby, for the uninitiated, are shots of vodka with passionfruit juice, chopped strawberries and Chambord liqueur. And yes, the cocktail is back on the menu at Gallery.

Opened in 2002, at the height of its fame, Boujis, also in upmarket Kensington, was the go-to night out for upper class movers and shakers. The then youngest generation of the royal family were particularly enthusiastic fans of the swish club brand. 

On any given night, you might have spotted Kate and William, Prince Harry, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and Zara Tindall rolling out onto the Old Brompton Road in high spirits.

Harry infamously hit the front pages by landing in the gutter in 2007 and Kate and William emerged from the club in 2006 – looking more than a little bleary eyed – as they got into a waiting car.

Other regulars included the pop star Prince, Hugh Grant, Charlotte Church, Cameron Diaz, Paris Hilton, Will Smith and Lady Gaga, who once rolled up in just a skimpy white swimming costume.

The It Girls of the noughties – including Chelsy Davy, Harry’s former girlfriend, Etonians, city slickers old enough to know better were all drawn to Boujis like bees to nectar. 

By 2016 though, it was all over for Boujis though; the club became so raucous it ended up breaching licensing conditions and was promptly shut down by Kensington and Chelsea Council.

A vicious fight between two friends who had hired a private room, which ended up with police arresting one of the men, was the final nail in the coffin. The year before it had been closed for two months following a mass brawl between revellers. 

Now though, the club’s original co-founders are hoping they have their next big hit on their hands.

Gallery is housed where Mahiki, another Noughties club owned by Carello and Parkinson-Smith once was – Mahiki was also loved by Kate and William, as well as Harry and Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice. 

The nightspot is a short walk home from Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s current home in the Kensington Palace’s Nottingham Cottage, where Harry and Meghan used to live. 

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Those heading to Gallery can expect to pay £300 for an annual membership, while those aged between 21 and 30 can become lifetime members for £2,500. 

Carello told The Times this week that the quartet’s recipe for success is largely the same – and discretion is always assured. 

The businessman said: ‘We create hugely debauched, hedonistic nights, but we also fundamentally protect our patrons. 

‘It’s been a home away from home for the royals,’ co-owner Jake Parkinson-Smith told The Mail earlier this year, saying Boujis was ‘a safe space for them.’ 

Mr Parkinson-Smith once recalled walking into Boujis on a week night to find US rapper Missy Elliott had brought all her celebrity friends along after the MOBO awards. 

‘I remember doing a head count and realising there were more A-list stars than staff,’ he said, ‘and we had no advance notice.’

Another time the heavy metal band Metallica pulled up in a fleet of five blacked-out limousines, one for each band member, and bikini-clad girls. 

The club regularly played host to the pop star Prince, who turned up in the rain and requested to leave by the back door under a purple umbrella.

Carello once described Boujis as ‘the epitome of London nightlife’.

However, not everyone could get into the club, with Kate’s brother James Middleton allegedly among the clubbers who were regularly rejected.

‘It was a constant juggling act of which calls you picked up and [which] you didn’t’, admitted Carello when reflecting on Boujis’ popularity.

A re-birth of the club, known as B London, often referred to as Boujis 2.0, opened in 2023 and continues to operate as a boutique members club. 

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