Lara Howard

Old Money, New Rules.

POMP is a book that chronicles the stories, lives, behaviours, upbringing, and all the social nuances, class codes, and cultural binaries associated with one of Britain’s most enduring curiosities: the upper class.

With each page, story and satirical spin, POMP invites the reader to laugh, reflect, and encounter traditional and contemporary interpretations of the British elite.

POMP started as a jest, a deep dive into the craziness of society’s most extravagant and ‘pompous’ displays of wealth and heritage. But, like any good masquerade (party or fraud), these stories, I hope, reveal or teach a different side to this country’s wild and wonderful ways.

Underneath the pie-crust collars, Patek Philippe watches. Hermès handbags, beyond the relentless chatter of Royal Ascot, holidays in the South of France, and judgmental side eye, these are genuine people who laugh at themselves, share their stories, and revel in the chaos of British society (whether they were born into it or made their way into it).

Please close this book with a smirk, a sigh, or even a huff-and-puff (yes, I’m looking at you, Jonty). Please leave it in the loo, gift it to a friend, or use it as a coaster. The archetypes may shift, the etiquettes fade, but the joy of satirising the rich will (I hope) never cease to entertain…