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There was also an Electrophone Salon in Gerrard Street, where le bon ton, in full evening dress, listened to West End performances; and several London restaurants – including the Cafe Royale – had tabletop electrophones that allowed diners to hear the latest popular tunes by putting sixpence in a slot and cranking the handle of the apparatus.

In 2008, Higson was among the civil servants criticised by Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, for "entirely inappropriate behaviour" after the Independent of Sunday reported that civil servants working in the nuclear consultations and liabilities unit at the now disbanded Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform had enjoyed hospitality paid for by nuclear industry representatives at venues such as the Ritz, Royal Ascot and the Café Royale.

"A bottle of champagne, my friend, and a dinner at the Café Royale, that we find the child before you do!"

Sleepy Jazz Scene Shows Signs of Awakening A recent Sunday afternoon jazz matinee at Café Royale was a sleepy affair.

Anyone who stopped by the Café Royale that afternoon to take the pulse of the local jazz scene would have reason to declare it faint.