Princess Louise, Holborn, London.

Located on High Holborn the Princess Louise was built in 1872 and boasts a well preserved interior and wood panelling which originates from 1891 thanks to architect Arthur Chitty. There is a central island bar with a series of booths and snob screens still inside. Even the toilets are considered a work of art compared to standard pub toilets. The pub was named in honour of Queen Victoria’s fourth daughter. 

 

The pub is tied to the Samuel Smith Brewery of Yorkshire. 

The building is Grade II listed and the inside has been described as “a rich example of a Victorian public house”.

The pub was operated by Regent Inns from 1990 until 1998, when the lease was taken over by Samuel Smith.

The Princess Louise is also notable for having been the venue for a number of influential folk clubs run by Ewan MacColl and others, which played an important part in the British folk revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Dennis Nilsen is said to have met his second victim, Kenneth Ockendon at the Princess Louise during a lunchtime drinking session in December 1979.