According to the Guardian, the Garrick Club on Monday night named Judi Dench, 89, and Sian Phillips, 91, as “eminent members”.
The institution, founded in 1831 and located in the Covent Garden district of central London, counts among its members many judges and lawyers, journalists, senior civil servants and politicians.
Like other prestigious clubs, the Garrick was reserved for men under an ancient rule, regularly denounced as archaic and a symbol of male exclusivity in places of power and influence.
According to a list revealed in March by The Guardian, King Charles III and actors Brian Cox (Succession) and Benedict Cumberbatch are among them.
The publication of the list increased pressure on the club to admit women. The head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Richard Moore and Downing Street Secretary Simon Case, the country’s most senior civil servant, announced they were leaving the Garrick Club.
Then, in a vote in May, members voted in favor of opening the membership to women.
Several other women are expected to join the club, including former Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Channel 4 journalist Cathy Newman. But traditional membership can take between two and five years.
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