25 years of The English Manner

This year, The English Manner turns 25. 

Founded in 2001 by Alexandra Messervy, we have enjoyed over two decades of fascinating and distinguished work, with our dedicated team of experts and tutors travelling to all corners of the world to share their expertise. We all say that sometimes it doesn’t seem like a job or a company, and more like having fun with a family.

I took over the British etiquette company in 2019, but have been involved with The English Manner since 2008, when Alexandra Messervy read about me in The Telegraph newspaper and Tatler magazine in the same week. She had the foresight to email me and say that if I were going to be teaching etiquette, please could I come and do this for her. I gladly accepted. (My first job for her was being sent to Milan to teach, so a very young William was totally delighted.) 

In this 25th year, the first event to mark our ‘silver jubilee’ was a dazzling black-tie dinner at Claridge’s in Mayfair, London, where the guest list was made up of friends of The English Manner, past and present

It was truly memorable to have the chance to celebrate with so many faces that have shaped The English Manner into what it is today – a leading British etiquette training institute. 

Both Alexandra and I spoke, and I will repeat now what I said at the end of my speech.

“Past and present, each of you in this room has shaped what The English Manner is today. If manners, at their heart, are about kindness, consideration and making others feel at ease, then everyone here proves that we’ve all been practising what we preach all along. Thank you for being part of our story — and here’s to carrying it forward, with grace, good humour and even better friendship, for the next twenty-five years.”

We raised a toast to The English Manner and, thank goodness, given that we were a room full of etiquette coaches and those associated with etiquette, no one clinked glasses!