‘Tis the season to be told that the things you really appreciate risk making you a ‘commoner’ after the arbiter of all things stylish, Nicky Haslam, releases his infamous tea towel this year.
The socialite and furniture designer began launching her tea towels, titled ‘The Last Things Nicky Haslam Finds in Common’, in 2018 and has since put together a new list of ‘common’ qualities every year, just in time for Christmas .
This year, Haslam, 85, has teamed up with Selfridges – a collaboration that may well have fallen victim to the list in previous years – to launch the 2024 tea towel, which sells for £50 (up from £18 when was first released in 2018). ).
Presenting this year’s tea towel to the Sunday scheduleHaslam, who is based in the Cotswolds, declared that his controversial list should be varied enough to upset everyone in some way, as he took aim at dairy-free alternatives, destination weddings and yellow bags (in which Selfridges will sell products). .
Although he seemed to take a veiled aim at Prince William through one of the “common” things on his list, Haslam praised Meghan Markle for giving Prince Harry a “nice life” as the couple mingles with celebrities in Montecito, far from what Haslam says they are Harry’s ‘hideous’ family.
Nicky Haslam has revealed his list of 39 “common” things by 2024, printed on a tea towel sold at Selfridges for £50.
He declared that the duchess was also “awful”, but added that she has “guts”; referring to the Duke and Duchess’ move to California in 2020, when they stepped down as working royals.
Who would want to live in a bloody cottage in Frogmore, open boring things, and have to be part of that awful family where everyone hates each other? It’s a lot more fun to be with movie stars and moguls in California and fly. “A much better life and she has given it to Harry,” he said.
Despite his seemingly sharp comments towards the royals, Haslam is a friend of Queen Camilla and was once a decorator to King Charles. He was even associated with Wallis Simpson during the 1960s.
Among the list of things Haslam considers “common” is insisting on discounts on items. Pictured: Money guru Martin Lewis encouraging consumers to fight for cheaper prices where they are rightly due.
In a ruling that may cause discomfort to many, Haslam has taken aim at people who own rescue dogs. Pictured: Rory Cellan Jones and his rescue dog, Sophie from Romania.
Haslam also delivered a scathing verdict on a piece of garden furniture beloved by many; the fire pit. Photographed on the island of love
While Haslam’s 2023 list pointed to Anna Wintour’s Met Gala, this year she has criticized the Vogue editor-in-chief’s ‘routine’
He also praised the ‘magical’ Camilla on a personal level; while taking aim at King Charles’ style of dress with “all those uniforms and medals” which he considers too traditional.
It’s not the first time he’s playfully mocked royalty in his list of “common” things; In 2023, Haslam put the Prince and Princess of Wales in the line of fire for wearing matching shades of blue and dressing their three children in the same shades as they attended the Easter Sunday service that year.
He told the Daily Mail’s editor Richard Eden: “It’s supposed to suggest a quiet upper class, which is very boring.” If you look at photos from the old days, royalty wore wonderful exotic clothes. But now they look like dolls in Peter Jones’s window.
He adds about the couple: ‘They do childish things, like playing soccer and other games. They couldn’t be less sophisticated. They don’t go to literary lunches or read extraordinary books or go to the theater.
Haslam is an old friend of Queen Camilla, who he described as “magical” on a personal level, but took issue with the “dreadful” royal family as a whole.
While drawing up his list of “common” things for 2024, Haslam spared nothing and no one; targeting people who get married abroad, people who have bonfires in their garden, people who drink almond milk, and people who have gender reveal parties.
He even put Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour on the list for her daily routine, which she has shared on several occasions and which involves going to the gym and getting her hair done.
Among those Haslam considers lower class are people who rescue dogs; suggest that an adopted dog is now similar to a “Birkin bag.”
He revealed that his method for designing the tea towel each year is to write down the “common” things throughout the year that have irritated him.
