In April 2024, 60 per cent of members voted to pass a motion to permit women to join for the first time in 200 years. Until then, no woman had been allowed into the Garrick unless invited in and accompanied around the building by a man.
The vote followed a leak of its membership list, which revealed that the King, Cabinet ministers and several High Court judges were among hundreds of establishment figures on the books.
The leak intensified the debate around the club’s decision to continue barring women and promoted several resignations, among them Simon Case, the former Cabinet secretary, and Sir Richard Moore, the former head of the Secret Intelligence Service.
Stephen Fry, the broadcaster, was among a group of around 20 members who had urged the club’s chairman, trustees and general committee to address the legal status of women’s membership.
The complex process of becoming a member can take between two and five years. However, the club’s rules state that the “general committee may in its discretion elect four members in each year in consideration of their public eminence or distinction”.
The Queen’s membership will be formally confirmed next month.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.telegraph.co.uk ’
