Article content LONDON — Beneath the gift shop of the original Hard Rock Cafe, staff members lead daily tours of the Vault, a space the size of a walk-in closet that guards some of the chain’s most vaunted treasures. Recommended Videos Inside, there’s the harpsichord played by the Beatles, Bo Diddley’s cigar box guitar, a bustier from Madonna’s era of traffic cone tops. At the restaurant across the street, diners eat cheeseburgers alongside Jimi Hendrix’s maracas, Keith Richards’s pink Fender Stratocaster, and a pair of glittery sunglasses immortalized on the cover of Elton John’s chart-topping album “Caribou.
” Over at Table 61, where Princess Diana once dined with her young princes, a small plaque honours a duo with no musical gifts to speak of. “To Dave & Val, legends among our patrons!” the sign reads. “This booth is dedicated to your enduring friendship.
” Dave and Val Harvey, a married couple from Middlesex, England, have been Hard Rock regulars since the mid-1980s. First once a month, then every Saturday, now every other weekend. They always sit at the four-top table sandwiched between Roger Daltrey’s “Tommy” outfit and Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham’s kit.
Dave, who has eaten thousands of meals here, has a standing order: Cheeseburger, fries and vanilla ice cream. The “Hard Rock Harveys,” who held their wedding reception at the now-closed Hard Rock Cafe Maui, are members of an extraordinary fan club whose travel and dining plans.
