The home of London’s oldest restaurant, which has hosted famous faces from Charles Dickens to Madonna over the past two centuries, has been given to the National Trust.

Rules originally opened in 1798 at 34-35 Maiden Lane in Covent Garden and has outlasted empires, survived the Blitz and fought off development plans.

The £11m freehold gift of the restaurant building along with its historic collection such as visitor books, menus, photographs will now be protected for future generations, the National Trust said.

Rules restaurant will continue to trade, while becoming a commercial tenant of the charity. Under the deal, the rent payments will go towards conserving the building.

Rules, which has well-preserved interior, has welcomed generations of high profile figures from Charles Dickens to Charlie Chaplin, as well as Edward VII, who would meet with his mistresses there, and stars David Bowie, Liza Minnelli and Harrison Ford.

It was favourite spot for poet John Betjeman, who once gave an impassioned speech in defence of the restaurant when it was under threat of redevelopment.

Writer Graham Greene was known to enjoy birthday meals there and featured it in his novel The End Of The Affair.

Hilary McGrady, director-general of the National Trust, said: “This place is an outstanding piece of living history, with its corners where kings dined and writers and politicians plotted, and the traditions it kept alive through wars and upheaval.

“It has defied the odds to be standing here today, doors still open and treacle sponge still on the menu.

“Mr Mayhew’s extraordinary generosity, and the care he has poured into Rules over many decades, mean this beloved place has a future measured not in years but generations.”

The building’s owner, J-P Mayhew, said: “There are few restaurants in the world that have endured the test of time like Rules.

“The trust will protect this place in a way that no-one else could, safeguarding its bricks and mortar, its famous interior and its invisible atmosphere, too.

“I am grateful to them for believing in this idea and for protecting this building and two centuries’ worth of stories for people to enjoy forever.”

The restaurant’s proprietor Ricky McMenemy, who has worked there for 35 years, will become a commercial tenant of the conservation charity.

He welcomed the donation, saying: “As an independent business, it gives us both the security and peace of mind that our home will be in very good hands and be protected and secure going forward.”

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