Have Westminster Council fallen out of love with their Chanel lampposts?

As Westminster council have been spotted replacing 'Chanel lampposts', Belinda White looks into the truth behind the legend.

BY Belinda White | 11 November 2010

Tragic news has reached me that Westminster City Council are in the process of removing many of the 'Chanel lampposts' and replacing them with standard issue ones. For anyone in the dark (geddit?) about what I'm talking about, let me explain…

Legend has it that the second Duke of Westminster, Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, was so love-struck by Mademoiselle 'Coco' Chanel back in the late Twenties after they met at a party in Monte Carlo in 1925, that he ordered all the lampposts in Westminster to be adorned with her initials, alongside an ornate W - the Duke's crest. Poor old Hugh was left heartbroken when, despite his extravagant gesture, Chanel turned his proposal of marriage down saying: "There have been several Duchesses of Westminster, there is only one Chanel". That told him.

Eagle-eyed fashion mole Emma Whitehair spotted the lampposts being removed on Mount Street yesterday and threatened to start a protest by chaining herself to one with her quilted Chanel handbag. No need Emma! A quick call to the city commissioner of transportation for Westminster City Council, Martin Low, reveals a different version of events.

"Periodically, we get calls from the fashion press asking if the double C's on our lampposts stand for Coco Chanel. It's a nice idea, but no", Martin told me. "The fancy W stands for Westminster and the two C's stand for City Council. The lampposts didn't actually get installed until the 1950s."

I prefer the original, more romantic version to be honest, so I'm sticking with the conspiracy theorists, who are suggesting the cash-strapped council are secretly selling off the 'family silver' to line their coffers. Harsh maybe, but with public services budgets what they are right now, not beyond the realms of reason.