The Lion And The Unicorn

It is on historical record that, on the evening of October 13th 1939, six weeks after war had been declared on Hitler’s Germany, Winston Churchill & Neville Chamberlain – implacable opponents for years over the appeasement issue – met together with their two wives, Clementine and Anne, for a private dinner at Admiralty House.

Chamberlain was still Prime Minister, but had seen all his efforts to negotiate peace with Hitler shattered. Churchill had been recalled to the cabinet after ten years ‘in the wilderness’, his dire warnings of the Nazi threat vindicated.

It was the first and only time these four mismatched personalities ever met socially alone together. There is no record as to what transpired during that unique evening. This new drama imagines the events.

The main reception room of the ministerial apartment on the upper floors of Admiralty House. Spacious and elegantly furnished, but at the same time congenial and comfortable. Besides various other paintings, a large portrait of Nelson hangs prominently on one wall.