Petition to save Veeraswamy handed to Buckingham Palace

Campaigners fighting to save the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant have delivered a petition to Buckingham Palace, urging urgent intervention to prevent its closure.

The petition, which has more than 20,000 signatures, urges King Charles to overturn the Crown Estate’s decision not to renew the lease of Michelin-starred restaurant Veeraswamy at Victory House on London’s Regent Street.

Without a resolution, the restaurant faces eviction from the site as it approaches its 100th anniversary next month.

In December, a Crown Estate spokesperson said it needs “to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment of Victory House”, and said this includes “a major upgrade to the offices and improving the entrance to make it more accessible”.

The Crown Estate added that, due to constraints within the listed building, the restaurant’s entrance must be removed, meaning it is unable to offer Veeraswamy a lease extension when it expires. The proposals would see Veeraswamy converted into offices.

In a post on Instagram earlier this month, the restaurant stated that the dispute “threatens to end a legacy built across generations”.

Ranjit Mathrani, joint owner of Veeraswamy, said the “risk of closure is very real”, but that the outcome won’t be known until July 2026.

He added: “We’re calling on Your Majesty King Charles III to intercede with the Crown Estate to reconsider this short-sighted decision and protect a historic institution that has stood through war, migration and monarchy. We urge them to recognise the value of Veeraswamy as a living piece of shared cultural history – and to allow this historic institution to continue its story at the very place it began.”

In December, a group of high-profile chefs, chard Corrigan, Michel Roux, Phil Howard and Raymond, gave their backing to the campaign to save Veeraswamy after the Crown Estate refused to enter negotiations to extend the restaurant’s lease.