5, St James's Square

The murder of Yvonne Fletcher, a Metropolitan Police officer, occurred on 17 April 1984, when she was fatally wounded by a shot fired from the Libyan embassy on St James's Square, London, by an unknown gunman. Fletcher had been deployed to monitor a demonstration against the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and died shortly afterwards. Her death resulted in an eleven-day siege of the embassy, at the end of which those inside were expelled from the country and the United Kingdom severed diplomatic relations with Libya. Between 1980 and 1984 Gaddafi had ordered the deaths of several exiled opponents of his regime; bombings and shootings, targeted at Libyan dissidents, occurred in Manchester and London. Five Libyans thought to be behind the attacks were deported from the UK. During the anti-Gaddafi protest on 17 April 1984, two gunmen opened fire from the first floor of the embassy with Sterling submachine guns. In addition to the murder of Fletcher, eleven Libyan demonstrators were wounded. The inquest into Fletcher's death reached a verdict that she was "killed by a bullet coming from one of two windows on the west side of the front on the first floor of the Libyan People's Bureau". Following the breaking of diplomatic relations, Libya arrested six British nationals, the last four of whom were released after nine months in captivity. Two years after Fletcher's murder, the event became a factor in the decision by the British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, to allow the US bombing of Libya from bases in the UK. In 1999, a warming of diplomatic relations between Britain and Libya led to a statement from the Libyan government admitting culpability in Fletcher's shooting, and the payment of compensation. British police continued their investigation until 2017. Although sufficient evidence existed to prosecute one of the co-conspirators, no charges were brought as some of the evidence could not be raised in court due to national security concerns. As at 2022 no one has been convicted of Fletcher's murder, although in 2021 the High Court of Justice determined that Gaddafi's ally Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk was jointly liable for Fletcher's murder.

The Canning Club is a gentlemen's club based in London, formerly named the Argentine Club, founded in 1911, and is for those with a particular link to, or special interest in, Argentina and other Latin American countries. As the previous name suggested, it was originally established as a club for nationals of Argentina, and much of its income was derived from Argentine-based British businesses. When these businesses were nationalised by Juan Domingo Perón from the 1940s, the club was deprived of its main source of revenue. Adapting to the situation, it redefined its remit more broadly to Latin America in general, and in 1948 was renamed as the Canning Club, in honour of George Canning, who had strong links to Latin America. The club was based in Hamilton Place, Mayfair, until 1970, when it began sharing the premises of the Naval and Military Club, first at Cambridge House, 94 Piccadilly, and from 1999 at 4 St. James's Square.

The Naval and Military Club, known informally as The In & Out, is a private members club located in St James's Square, London. It was founded in 1862 for gentlemen of the British Armed Forces. It now also accepts female members, and members who have not served in the armed forces, but continues to observe service traditions.

Den Norske Klub (The Norwegian Club) is a social club based in London. It was founded on 17 May 1887. Its members are Norwegians living in London or Britons with a connection to or interest in Norway. It is the oldest club of its kind in the UK and is still an important meeting place for the Norwegian community in London. As a result of DNK's long existence and extensive networks, DNK attracts high caliber speakers and guests to its events including royals, celebrities, business leaders, and members of parliament.

22 Jermyn Street is the address of the site of several former hotels, including the Eyrie Mansion and an eponymously named luxury hotel in London, England. Jermyn Street is in St James's in the centre of London's West End, 75 yards from Piccadilly Circus.

St James's Square is the only square in the St James's district of the City of Westminster and is a garden square. It has predominantly Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. For its first two hundred or so years it was one of the three or four most fashionable residential streets in London. It now has headquarters of a number of well-known businesses, including BP and Rio Tinto Group; four private members' clubs, the East India Club, the Naval and Military Club, the Canning Club, and the Army and Navy Club; the High Commission of Cyprus; the London Library; and global think tank and peace-promoter Chatham House. A main feature is a high, stone-plinthed equestrian statue of William III erected in 1808.

The equestrian statue of William III by John Bacon Junior stands in St James's Square in central London. It is modelled on an earlier statue of the king by John Michael Rysbrack in Queen Square, Bristol. Funding for the London statue was provided in the will of Samuel Travers, M.P., dated 1724, but nothing was done to progress the plan for a further seventy years. A design for the monument was drawn up in 1794 by Bacon's father, John Bacon Senior, but this was not executed and the commission passed to Bacon Jr., under whose direction the statue was finally erected in 1808. The statue is a Grade I listed structure.

Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is an independent policy institute headquartered in London. Its stated mission is to provide commentary on world events and offer solutions to global challenges. It is the originator of the Chatham House Rule.

Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated on Jermyn Street, in London's West End. It is an off-west end studio theatre.

The Red Lion is a Grade II listed public house at 2 Duke of York Street, St James's, London, SW1.It is on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. It was built in 1821.

The Pigalle Club was a supper club and live music venue in Piccadilly, in the West End area of Central London. It was owned by John Vincent Power. Dave West also owned shares in the Pigalle Club.Originally located at another site in Piccadilly, the club re-opened in April 2006. Designed by Stephen Donald and furnished by Shaun Clarkson, the sophisticated Pigalle Club was inspired by 1940s aesthetics. It offered fine dining and live musical entertainment, with tables clustered around the stage. The 400-capacity venue hosted artists performing jazz, and occasionally soul and pop music, alongside cabaret and burlesque acts.The Beatles played a concert at the Pigalle on 21 April 1963. Shirley Bassey's performance at the club on 12 September 1965 was recorded and released on the live album Shirley Bassey at the Pigalle the same year. Other acts that performed at the venue included Yana, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis Jr, Boy George, Duffy, Eartha Kitt, Sinéad O'Connor, John McKeown, Basia, Horace Andy, Brian Kennedy and Immodesty Blaize.In 2007, the venue was featured in the third series of Britain's Next Top Model. The Pigalle Club closed down in 2012. It was replaced by a new establishment in 2014, Warewolf, which soon also ceased operating.

The Royal Gallery of Illustration was a 19th-century performance venue located at 14 Regent Street in London. It was in use between 1850 and 1873. The gallery was built in the 1820s by the architect John Nash as part of his own house, to display his considerable collection of paintings. In 1850 the building was named the Gallery of Illustration, and between then and 1855 it housed a diorama created and run by the theatrical scene-painters Thomas Grieve and William Telbin. From 1856 to 1873 the gallery was in the hands of the singer and actress Priscilla Horton and her husband German Reed. Their entertainments developed from songs and comedy with piano accompaniment to programmes of short plays and operettas. In deference to respectable mid-Victorian doubts about the propriety of theatres, the Reeds called their productions "entertainments", and avoided the use of the words "theatre", "play" and other theatrical terms. Under the Reeds the gallery played an important part in the development of a new generation of authors, composers and performers. Among the writers whose works the Reeds staged were W. S. Gilbert and F. C. Burnand, and their composers included Arthur Sullivan, Frederic Clay and Alfred Cellier. The performers Arthur Cecil, Corney Grain and Fanny Holland made their names at the gallery early in their careers. The lease of the building expired in 1873, and it ceased to be used as a performance venue. The Reeds moved to another theatre, and the gallery became a banqueting hall.