REVIEW: Malice in Wonderland by Hugo Vickers

Hugo Vickers is much respected as a leading contemporary biographer – particularly of a number of members of the royal family – but what first put him on the literary map was the bestselling biography he published in 1986 of the incomparable photographer, designer, stylist, diarist and general bon vivant, Sir Cecil Beaton.

Hugo Vickers

With a view to his place in history, Beaton himself chose Vickers in 1979 to write his official biography. As fate would have it, a month after their meeting to discuss the project, Beaton died suddenly at the age of 76.

Having given Vickers his blessing, however, opened the door for his many friends and associates to take the young biographer under their wing and share with him their often salacious and scurrilous stories of adventures with Beaton, not to mention their invaluable address books. Soon he found himself having cocktails and dining regularly with the likes of Lady Diana Cooper, Diana Vreeland, Clarissa Avon (widow of PM Anthony Eden) and the legendary fashion designer Valentina. One door opened another as he interviewed icons from Truman Capote, Princess Grace and ‘Bright Young Thing’ Stephen Tennant to Audrey Hepburn, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret.

All these years later – as a lockdown project – Vickers has taken out of storage his prodigious diaries and notes of the interviews he conducted with ‘the Beaton set’ whose world he happily inhabited in the early ‘80s whilst researching his magnum opus. In Malice in Wonderland, he shares his encounters with and opinions of the astounding array of aristocratic and society stars he met on his quest to understand the ‘real’ Beaton.

Vickers’ research simply tracking down what happened to this overwhelming coterie of elderly aristocrats from a disappearing world is impressive. Indeed, most of his interlocutors of those research days have now passed on. In his vast footnotes alone, 416 are identified (by my count) – 374 dead and just 42 still living!

In speaking of diarist Paddy Leigh Fermor, a member of Beaton’s circle, society figure Daphne Fielding, described him as “… marvellous … such a tonic. He should be turned into pills so that he could be taken regularly”. This quote could equally be used today to sum up Hugo Vickers, whose anecdotes shared in this high society romp not only give added insight into Beaton, but bring to life a world of privilege, class and establishment celebrity of the ‘20s to the ‘70s. The glimpses we are afforded not only contribute to social history but are delicious treats for readers to savour with voyeuristic delight.

—Malice in Wonderland: My Adventures in the World of Cecil Beaton by Hugo Vickers (Hachette Australia) is out now.

Malice in Wonderland

My Adventures in the World of Cecil Beaton

by Hugo Vickers

Hugo Vickers's life took a dramatic turn in 1979 when the legendary Sir Cecil Beaton invited him to be his authorised biographer. The excitement of working with the famous photographer was dashed only days later when Cecil Beaton died. But the journey had begun - Vickers was entrusted with Beaton's papers, diaries and, most importantly, access to his friends and contemporaries. The resulting book, first published in 1985, was a bestseller.

In Malice in Wonderland, Vickers shares excerpts from his personal diaries kept during this period...

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About the Contributor

Scott Whitmont