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If there were a moment that epitomised the English beau monde’s self-styled insouciance in the face of the London Blitz, it took place in April 1941, at the Savoy Hotel.
One evening, writes Olivia Williams in her thorough and entertaining The Secret Life of the Savoy, a bomb exploded right outside the hotel, and “threw bandleader Carroll Gibbons off the stage at dinner.”
The meal continued as if nothing had happened, according to Noël Coward, who happened to be living at the hotel at the time. He rose from his seat and approached the piano, keen to help the show go on.
