“GOOD evening” greets a charming cut-glass voice, as I make my way to the bar.
I spin around and see Eddie Davenport smiling at me, wearing his signature velvet jacket and Gucci slip-ons.
A beautiful, lingerie-clad woman is draped on his arm – ‘Fast Eddie’ is in his element.
Nearby, a blonde wearing nothing but Louboutins and expensive perfume leads a man behind a red curtain, which is deliberately left ajar.
Guests sip champagne, catching tantalising glimpses of their entwined bodies moving rhythmically, as their cries of ecstasy are drowned out by the thumping house music.
Welcome to 32 Portland Place, the £15million Marylebone mansion notorious for hosting wild sex parties, owned by convicted fraudster and socialite Eddie Davenport.
This hedonistic hotspot has attracted police attention 63 times, thanks to noise complaints, alleged drug use, and rowdy, drunken behaviour from partygoers.
But despite the backlash, Davenport recently won a court case allowing non-residents to attend his gatherings, claiming it’s a victory for the “right to party”.
“I like to entertain,” Davenport, 58, told The Telegraph. “I’ve been here 30 years, and I want people to have fun.”
He certainly knows how to put on a show. As The Sun’s Sexpert, I’ve attended plenty of risqué events – but Eddie’s party last year was by far the most debaucherous.
The sprawling mansion is the perfect setting for a night of unbridled indulgence.
Spread over three floors, it comfortably hosted 150 guests dressed in glamorous attire and ornate masks.
Lingerie-clad women resembled Victoria’s Secret models, while men were sharply dressed in suits. The crowd were predominantly young, with whispers of high-class escorts in attendance.
The scent of money – and sex – hung in the air.
A ticket cost £100, which included one free drink at the bar upon arrival.
The first floor housed a playroom featuring dungeons and hooks for those seeking kinky encounters.
In the basement, there was a speakeasy where guests gathered, sipping cocktails and champagne, plucking up the courage to join in.
I’ve already slept with two women and it’s not even midnight yet
Adam, guest
Scantily-clad performers delivered a fiery strip show to thumping house music.
Tables were littered with poles, with naked women dancing seductively around them, adding to the wild, hedonistic atmosphere.
Off to the side, two small rooms with red, velvet curtains provided spaces for private escapades – although most of the guests kept the curtains ajar so the voyeuristic crowd could enjoy too.
The Georgian mansion’s dark blue walls were adorned with elaborate chandeliers and candlelit corners, adding an air of opulence.
But, closer inspection revealed signs of wear and tear, giving it a somewhat student-like feel, particularly in the basement and lower levels.
On the second floor, the “white play room” featured a stunning marble fireplace. Couples massaged each other with baby oil on the periphery of a 60-strong orgy in the centre of the room.
Agent Provocateur underwear was strewn across the floor, illuminated by flickering candlelight.
A stoic bouncer stood guard at the entrance, utterly unfazed by the scenes unfolding inside. Security, it seems, is paramount at Eddie’s events.
On arrival, a blonde hostess dripping in nothing but diamonds read out the rules: no photos, no kink-shaming, and no “playing” without consent – while a bouncer covered the camera on my phone with a sticker.
The top floor remains a mystery, off-limits to all guests. It’s believed to house Davenport’s private quarters – his sanctuary amid the chaos.
While neighbours have repeatedly called for an end to the mansion’s wild gatherings, Fast Eddie shows no signs of slowing down.
“I’m fighting for people’s right to enjoy themselves,” he insists, unapologetic about his lifestyle.
In court, his lawyer argued there was a “cultural difference” between his lifestyle as a party enthusiast and the quieter preferences of his neighbours.
“I’m somebody who likes to go out and entertain,” he continues. “One of my neighbours is a corporate lawyer, another chap said he works 14 hours a day and needs quiet.
A blonde wearing nothing but Louboutins and expensive perfume leads a man behind a red curtain, which is deliberately left ajar
“I had to fight this case for everyone’s right to party. A lot of people buy these houses for huge amounts of money and leave them empty and no-one’s allowed to see them or enjoy them.
“Number 28 is empty, Number 30 is an empty office, Number 34 is the Polish consulate but it’s currently empty. I’ve been on Portland Place for more than 30 years and I want people to be able to have fun.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time Davenport has found himself on the wrong side of the law.
In 1990, aged 24, he served a nine-month sentence for failing to charge VAT on Gatecrasher tickets. He spent just 16 days in prison, later quipping to Tatler: “Boring. There aren’t many parties there.”
After his release, he ventured into property development, controversially acquiring 33 Portland Place, the former Sierra Leone embassy, during the country’s civil war.
He reportedly deceived the high commissioner into selling him the lease for just £50,000 and later secured the freehold for £3.75million.
Davenport transformed the 24-bedroom mansion into a hotspot for lavish parties and film shoots, with notable events like Kate Moss’ Agent Provocateur campaign and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’ video.
Socialite Paris Hilton, rapper 50 Cent and footie legend David Beckham are just a few celebs who have reported partied at Portland Place.
In 2011, he was sentenced to eight years and seven months in prison for being the ‘ringmaster’ in a £4.5million deception.
He was dubbed ‘Lord Fraud’, but the sex-loving socialite was released after just three years due to his ill health, notoriously undergoing a kidney transplant while in handcuffs.
Everyone is doing what they enjoy – having sex. What could be better than that?
Fast Eddie
After serving time in jail, he sold 33 Portland Place in 2015 to pay a £14 million fraud order, only to purchase 32 Portland Place, where the notorious parties continue.
For a few years, he kept a low profile but recently he’s been making a comeback by renting out his legendary mansion for orgies.
In 2022, he teamed up with Killing Kittens and threw a 300-strong sex party called Passing Fancies.
At least one sex party a week reportedly takes place at 32 Portland Place and Davenport receives rent and some proceeds from the bar. Insiders say he sees it as ‘sticking two fingers up to the authorities’.
“I want to do what I love – organise great parties, meet beautiful women, celebrities and fun people,” he says. “Everyone is doing what they enjoy – having sex. What could be better than that?”
As I found out when I attended, the guests are certainly in agreement.
“Why would you ever go to a normal club when places like this exist?” said Adam, a handsome banker from London. “I’ve already slept with two women, and it’s not even midnight yet.”
Today, Davenport splits his time between a penthouse in Thailand and London. When in London, he often makes appearances at his parties, casually mingling with guests but he doesn’t drink or participate, as I witnessed during my visit last year.
“I am very anti-drugs, I don’t drink, I have had two kidney transplants,” he says. “I smell marijuana on the street corner occasionally but definitely not in my house.”
Davenport has never married and claims he’s fully committed to partying. At nearly 60, he has no plans for retirement and enjoys the “Fast Eddie” nickname.
“Well, it’s better than ‘Slow Eddie’,” he quips. “If there was no risk, it would be boring.”
For years ‘Lord’ Edward Davenport has claimed to be part of the British aristocracy – but the closest he has ever got to being a member of the landed gentry is a picture with Fergie.
Davenport was raised the son of a Chelsea restauranteurs and gained a ‘Lord’ title when he bought a country pile.
Like his high-class mates, he went to posh private schools but made his own fortune thanks to a ruthless eye for a deal and an obsession with cash.
A fresh-faced 20-year-old Davenport burst onto the scene of London’s elite by throwing the infamous Gatecrasher balls in the 1980s.
The young entrepreneur would hold debauched toff-filled club nights where the teenage sons and daughters of tycoons, Lords and lawyers would dance, drink and romp the night away.
Young yuppie Fast Eddie quickly found himself the toast of the Sloane set and on his way to making his first millions.
However, it wouldn’t be too long until he found himself in trouble with the taxman.
In 1990, he was convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to nine months in jail.
But once out of prison he was back to doing what he knew best: making money.
Soon he would be boasting a vast property empire with multiple pubs on the exclusive King’s Road, a club in Derby and pawn-broking business in Mayfair.
At his financial height he was rumoured to be worth around £100M.
But one building would change his image forever– a 110-room mansion in Portland Place, central London.
Davenport bought a 58-year lease on the property for an outrageously cheap £50K from the cash-strapped Sierra Leonean government in 1999.
Explaining the deal, he told The Times: “The diplomats were so poor they were working as minicab drivers.
“I started to pay their bills, fix the roof, that kind of thing. No one else would touch it.”
But while he made out like he was doing the Sierra Leonean’s a favour – in fact this was just another sign of Fast Eddie’s trademark eye for a deal.
As civil war ravaged the West African country, six years later he snapped it up for a meagre £3.75million – its current worth is believed to be around ten times that.
Davenport then transformed the building into a den of deviancy.
But couples in bondage gear were not the only roles played in the sprawling Georgian mansion – Fast Eddie also made buck or two from hiring out to film directors, musicians and models.
His old mate Kate Moss posed for Agent Provocateur in one of its reception rooms and the Oscar-winning King’s Speech was also filmed in its billiard room.
But despite the orgies, mansions, and Ferraris – life has not been all champagne and supermodels for Fast Eddie.
He was convicted of a multi-million-pound loans swindle in 2011 and became known as ‘Lord Fraud’.
It was reported that he promised to lend clients millions and charged vast securities fees, but loans were never paid out and he kept £4million.
Davenport was sentenced to seven years but served three after getting early release on health grounds – becoming one of the few prisoners in the UK to receive a kidney transplant.
But typically, Fast Eddie claimed he even found a way to cheat the prison system – gorging on smuggled lobster dinners from his cell and passing the time by playing badminton.
On release he was forced to sell his beloved Portland Place to meet a £10.9million court confiscation order.
He has now gone back to throwing sex parties across London’s poshest enclaves.
