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Lecture

Patrick Bade
Noel Coward

Wednesday 6.09.2023

Summary

Regarded by his admirers as “The Master” and derided by his critics as superficial and morally decadent, Noel Coward was undoubtedly one of the most versatile cultural figures of the twentieth century- actor, playwright, song writer, diarist and painter.

Patrick Bade

An image of Patrick Bade.

Patrick Bade is a historian, writer, and broadcaster. He studied at UCL and the Courtauld Institute of Art. He was a senior lecturer at Christie’s Education for many years and has worked for the Art Fund, Royal Opera House, National Gallery, and V&A. He has published on 19th- and early 20th-century paintings and historical vocal recordings. His latest book is Music Wars: 1937–1945.

Well, the upper classes certainly were, probably, always more tolerant of homosexual, or accepting of it. And it was, of course, it was very much part of public school education, where it was a huge amount, although of course it was expected that after you left school and after you left university, you would get married and have children. But my guess is that a high percentage of British men in the upper classes had some kind of homosexual experience in their early life.