Camden News - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS Published: 21 August 2008
Marc Hayward with bar manager Lyle Merritt outside the Prince of Wales pub
Showbiz royalty head for the new Prince of Wales
A NEW-LOOK Kentish Town pub raised £10,000 for a breast cancer charity by hosting a showbiz party.
The recent event, to celebrate model and designer Sadie Frost’s birthday, proved a positive start for a dynamic duo finding their feet in their first business venture together as co-owners of the refurbished Prince of Wales pub.
Marco Smith is known as “Marco Koko” after spending the past four years working at Koko nightclub in Camden Town and was responsible for booking Madonna’s appearance at the venue, while Marc Hayward is a successful music video director and a sports satellite channel boss.
And almost all of the borough’s famous faces have popped by to say hello. Oasis stars Noel and Liam Gallagher have been in, actor Sean Bean’s daughter is a member of the bar staff, and David Walliams is known to enjoy a tipple there.
But Mr Hayward insisted: “We don’t believe in ringing people and saying ‘this person is in the pub, bring the paparazzi’.
“We’re not a skinny jeans type of place. I like to walk into a pub, put a few tunes on the jukebox and play darts and snooker.”