The Wine Blokes

Charles Philip Yorke was born in 1836 and became the Fifth Earl of Hardwicke in 1873. “Champagne Charlie” -as he was known -formed part of the “Dandy” set of well tailored young men with aloof manners and a keen sense of snobbery. A keen party animal, Charles quickly joined the Prince of Wales’ Malborough House Group and the London fast set. He is credited with having invented the polished silk top-hat.

At the time, a popular music hall ditty went thus:

Whoever drinks at my expense

Are treated all the same

From Dukes and Lords, to cabmen down,

I make them drink Champagne.

are redolent of Charlie Yorke

Constance Rothschild - Lady Battersea - noted that the Earl-to-be was:

“an easy-going, happy-go-lucky, brilliant member of the social world in the ’sixties and ’seventies, known for a time as ‘Champagne Charlie’ … an entertaining talker and an agreeable companion, not devoid of talent … in faultless attire … As a young man he was considered a success, but as an older one perhaps a disappointment.”

This related to Champagne Charlie’s unrestrained gambling debts that had grown to around £200,000 -that’s £12.8 million by today’s prices. For a time the Prince of Wales was minded to support Charlie for election as MP, but could not persuade Disraeli that the performing dandy had talent enough to warrant promotion to Under-Secretary for War or Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The Prince’s interest waned and “Champagne Charlie” Yorke fell into ruin.

Champagne Charlie has since become a popular nickname for various characters including a music hall singer, a US wine merchant and has prompted many plays and films.