Margaret Thatcher, Prince Philip and other celebs who stayed at Worcestershire hotels

Celebrities have flocked here to embrace the Worcestershire countryside and also to escape the fast-paced nature of celebrity life.

Here are just some Worcestershire hotels that have played host to some of the world’s most notable people.

The Abbey Hotel, Malvern

This four star hotel boasts landscaped gardens and gorgeous views over the Vale of Evesham and the Malvern Hills.

The views we so good that they attracted royalty from across the pond.

Haile Selassie, former Emperor of Ethiopia of Ethiopia, paid a few visit to the hotel in the 1900s.

Haile Selassie plaque on the Abbey Hotel, Malvern
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Bob Embleton - geograph.org.uk/p/2503674

According to a plaque on the hotel, he often stayed here during his exile in Britain between 1936- 1941.

He would often visit his grand daughters who were educated at the nearby Clarendon School.

Writing in the Malvern Gazette in 1952, the editor wrote: "Few now remember that it was here in the Abbey Hotel that Haile Selassie made his home for a while, and it was here that his granddaughters and the daughters of court officials have since been educated in our democratic way of life.

"I had the impression of a man bowed with grief at the fate which had overtaken his people at the hands of an enemy armed with all the terrifying resources of scientific warfare.

"But his eyes were courageous as well as sad and his bearing superbly dignified as befitted a descendant of the Lion of Judah.”

The Lygon Arms, Broadway

The Lygon Arms has a lot of history and thought to date back as far as the 1300s- and it’s still open to this day.

You can visit the very suite that Oliver Cromwell stayed in the night before the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

King Edward VII motored to the hotel in 1905- and  as did his grandson, the ‘playboy prince’ and future King Edward VIII.

At the height of the scandal surrounding their affair, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor also stayed here in 1963.

(Ian West/PA)

Other film stars also graced the halls of the Broadway hotel, including Mary Pickford, Charles ‘Buddy Rogers’, Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson and Moira Shearer to name just a few.

Even in the modern day, the hotel’s guest book is filling up with notable politicians and prime ministers- even the late Prince Philip once paid a visit.  

The Foley Arms Hotel, Malvern

(Facebook/ The Foley Arms Hotel)

You might recognise The Foley Arms Hotel as a local Wetherspoons- but it actually has an extensive and long history.

The Duke and Duchess of Teck and their daughter, Princess May stayed here in 1895.

They came to open the new waterworks and reservoir.

Thomas Franlin was station master at the Great Western Railway station and the royal family gave Franklin a diamond tiepin.

When the Duchess saw it she exclaimed “I don’t think you will find much use for our gift” (his tie being hidden behind the beard).

Franklin replied, “I will find a use for it ma’am”. The tiepin is still owned by the family.

Wood Norton Hotel, Evesham

The Wood Norton Hotel is a charming little Victorian hall.

It has 50 rooms in total with extensive grounds and a top restaurant.

It was built in the 19th century by the exiled Duc d’Orleans; it was used as a hunting lodge in the aftermath of the French Revolution.

The hotel’s Princess Louise suite is named after royal bride Princess Louise of Orleans, who spent her wedding night in the wood-panelled room.

And – perhaps most infamously of all – the hotel was recently the scene of a ­restaurant brawl involving MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace.

Cottage in the Wood Hotel and Restaurant, Malvern Wells

(Facebook/Cottage in the Wood Hotel)

THE IRON LADY, Margaret Thatcher, liked to escape the stress of politics at this hotel.

She would book the same room every year and use it as a base for her Worcestershire explorations, often during autumn.

Sue and John Pattin with Baroness Thatcher

Back in 2013, the hotel’s owner, John Pattin, said: “The first time I got a call to say she was coming, I thought it was an April Fool’s joke that had come early.

“Then I found out special branch had already been in, secretly posing as customers to check the hotel out and vet it.

"I know she had just a few bolt holes that became regular places to stay. One was a hotel in Banbury, one was either Austria or Switzerland, and one was Malvern.”

Children’s author C.S Lewis and Rolling Stones drummer, Charlie Watts are just two other famous names to have stayed here.

Worcester man and famous composer, Edward Elgar, also performed at the hotel.