London - British actor Stephen Fry claims he took cocaine at Buckingham Palace.
Opening up about a 15-year addiction to the drug, the comedian details dozens of respected institutions where he says he took it.
The list includes the House of Lords, the House of Commons and BBC Television Centre – but Fry, 57, fails to elaborate further.
The claims come in a new autobiograhy, More Fool Me, published on Thursday.
Fry writes: “I take this opportunity to apologise unreservedly, to the owners, managers or representatives of the noble and ignoble premises and to the hundreds of private homes, offices, car dashboards, tables, mantelpieces and available polished services that could so easily have been added to this list of shame.
“You may wish to have me struck off, banned, black balled or in any other way punished for past crimes; surely now is the time to reach for the phone, the police or the club secretary.”
Following on from 2010’s The Fry Chronicles, which touched on his drug use in its closing pages, his new book sees the presenter speak in detail about the habit that cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds.
It also reveals his brushes with the law and how he narrowly escaped drug charges after being stopped by police while in possession of cocaine.
This third instalment of his autobiography follows Fry through the 1980s and 90s after he had found fame through shows such as A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Blackadder and Jeeves and Wooster.
He recalls the “momentous night” in 1986 when he first took cocaine with an unnamed actor friend and admits that he never saw himself as an addict as his dependency spiralled out of control. Fry doesn’t detail the year he believed he became addicted or when he kicked the habit.
He writes: “How can I explain the extraordinary waste of time and money that went into my 15-year habit? Tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds, and as many hours, sniffing, snorting and tooting away time that could have been employed writing, performing, thinking, exercising, living.”
The actor, who suffers from bipolar disorder, also explained his simple motivations behind taking cocaine: “I didn’t take coke because I was depressed or under pressure. I didn’t take it because I was unhappy (at least I don’t think so). I took it because I really, really liked it.”
While he assures readers that he was always too “squeamish” to try harder drugs such as heroin or crystal meth, his cocaine consumption could be insatiable.
His need for drugs was so great that he built up a network of dealers to ensure he would always have a steady supply. He explained how he built up this web across London after his first £240 (about R4 300) drug buy. He talks about ‘Mitch’ introducing him to ‘Nando’ who passed him on to ‘Midge’ and then ‘Nonny’ – who had ‘A-Charlie’ for actors, comics, musicians and supermodels.
He recalls how he was stopped by police for driving his motorbike while drunk, with three grams of cocaine in his possession.
Scared that he would be charged with intent to supply, he tried to surreptitiously leave the cocaine, which was stored in a small holder, in the police van as it drove him to London’s West End Central Station on Savile Row.
He was charged with drunk driving but allowed to go until his court date. However, as he was leaving, a police officer came running after him with the unopened holder, unknowingly returning the drugs to Fry which he went on to take that same night.
Fry also recounts how he gave Tony Blair advice on how to dress when he was invited to a dinner at Chequers soon after Labour took power in 1997.
The dress code was stated as “informal” – but Fry was surprised to find the prime minister in a denim shirt and chinos. He explained to the PM that “in the strange British world of etiquette”, informal meant “not black tie” and that many guests would wear dark lounge suits. “There was much confabulation before the PM hared upstairs to change,” Fry writes.
Places where Fry says he took cocaine
Windsor Castle
Sandringham House
Clarence House
House of Lords
House of Commons
The Ritz
The Savoy
Claridge’s
The Dorchester
The Berkeley
The Connaught
Grosvenor House
White’s Club
Brooks’s Club
Boodle’s Club
The Carlton Club
The United Oxford and Cambridge Club
Naval and Military Club
The Reform Club
The Travellers Club
Army and Navy Club
The RAC Club
The RAF Club
The Beefsteak Club
The Garrick Club
The Savile Club
The Arts Club
The Chelsea Arts Club
The Savage Club
Soho House
The Groucho Club
BBC Television Centre
Fortnum & Mason
ITV HQ
Shepperton Studios
Pinewood Studios
Elstree Studios
20th Century Fox
Daily Telegraph offices
The Times offices
Spectator offices
Tatler, Vogue House
Vanity Fair, Vogue House
The Listener offices
Daily Mail