Mariah Carey at Claridge's, Mayfair, December 2005

Mayfair, London · December 2005

Taken 17:26:41 (camera clock), Saturday 3 December 2005, Claridge's, Mayfair, London

I am Charles Pycraft, a London photographer. Mariah Carey is in the news this week, and her Christmas season is already gathering pace.

Her Christmastime tour reaches The O2 in London on Monday 30 November (The O2), and a 25th anniversary edition of Glitter arrives on 30 October (uDiscover Music). So here she is at the start of another London December, from my archive.

Claridge's, 3 December 2005

My camera has her stepping out of Claridge's in Mayfair at 17:26 on Saturday 3 December 2005, with the hotel's name woven into the doormat under her boots. She is in a cream padded coat, a white top, jeans and tan boots, with long beaded necklaces, and she gives the pavement a proper pose in the doorway. Forty seconds later, by the camera's clock, she is by a car signing autographs for fans, all smiles.

That week

She was in London for The Emancipation of Mimi, the album that made 2005 her comeback year, then out in a new Ultra Platinum Edition. The next day, Sunday 4 December, she signed copies of it for fans at HMV on Oxford Street (Getty Images). On Monday 5 December she sang We Belong Together and Don't Forget About Us on Today with Des and Mel (setlist.fm), the same day Don't Forget About Us came out as a UK single (Discogs). It entered the Official Chart at number 11 in the Christmas week (Official Charts).

Where she is now

The Queen of Christmas title took a while to make official here. All I Want for Christmas Is You first reached number 1 in the UK in December 2020, 26 years after it came out (Official Charts). This year she brings it to Birmingham, London and Manchester in person.

My photography years ran from 1999 to 2014, and that archive is now licensed through Backgrid UK.

The pictures

Four frames from a body of work I made in London between 1999 and 2014, all taken within about 40 seconds outside Claridge's. In the autograph frame, the picture has been cropped to Mariah so that fans and staff are not shown.

Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID. Licensing: Backgrid UK Sales, backgrid_uksales@shutterstock.com

Mariah Carey in a cream padded coat, white top, jeans and tan boots, waving in the doorway of Claridge's, with the hotel's na — CLARIDGE'S, MAYFAIR, DECEMBER 2005. Mariah Carey steps out of Claridge's hotel in Mayfair, London, on 3 December 2005. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Mariah Carey smiling and posing on the Claridge's doormat in a cream coat, white top, long beaded necklaces, jeans and knee h — A pose for the pavement on the Claridge's doormat. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Mariah Carey in a cream padded coat with long beaded necklaces, her long blonde hair falling across her face, beside the marb — Closer in, hair swept across her face as she heads out. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Mariah Carey laughing, in a cream coat with a fur trimmed hood and large rings, as hands hold out paper for her to sign. — Signing autographs for fans before she leaves, 3 December 2005. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.