‘I’d love to join Garrick’, says Mary Beard as club votes on women

Dame Mary Beard has said she would “love” to be a member of the men-only Garrick club as it moves closer to admitting women for the first time.

Dame Mary, a television presenter and professor of classics at Cambridge University, revealed she is waiting to hear back from the committee.

Members of the Garrick Club rebelled last month by nominating seven prominent women including Dame Mary and Amber Rudd.

In a move designed to force through female membership, the women’s names have been put to the Garrick’s candidates committee.

Asked if she was going to be the first female member of the Garrick Club, Dame Mary told Radio 4: “We shall have to wait and see, it’s up to the members of the Garrick club I think.”

She added: “I have to say, I think this will get me a lot of hostile tweets, but I think it’s a very nice club. I’ve had several lunches there and I’d love to be a member.”

If the women suggested to the committee as members are rejected, there have been suggestions of possible legal action against the club.

Dame Mary added: “If they decide they don’t want me, I’m not going to be taking them to a court of law. Let’s see what happens.

“And if they don’t take women, I’ll dust myself down and you know, go on as normal.”

Dame Mary confirmed that she was nominated by journalists Simon Heffer and Sir Simon Jenkins.

On Thursday, the Garrick committee accepted the legal opinion of Lord Pannick KC that women are eligible to join the exclusive club.

Lord Pannick, a British barrister and a crossbencher in the House of Lords whose opinion was commissioned by several members of the club, said that the pronoun ‘he’ is interchangeable with ‘she’ in the law, meaning the club’s current rules already allow women to join.

The club’s committee passed a motion to accept the opinion at the meeting on Thursday evening.

The matter will now pass to an extraordinary general meeting of all 1,500 members who will be given a vote on whether to accept the opinion.

It marks one of the most significant steps in the club’s nearly 200-year history and could pave the way for women to be admitted for the first time as full members.

At present, women are only allowed to enter the club if invited and accompanied by a man.