Trivia books will need to be rewritten. A THIRD person can now whistle in the Piccadilly enclave.
World whistling champ Geert Chatrou has won the right to purse his lips in Burlington Arcade. This is a rare honour indeed.
The high-end shopping arcade is patrolled by uniformed beadles who enforce the walkway's unique set of rules. One of these states that no person shall whistle while in the arcade. According to Burlington lore, this rule was introduced to confound Victorian pickpockets, who would use coded whistles to communicate.
As most London trivia books will tell you, there are two exceptions to the no-whistling rule. Sir Paul McCartney is one. Fair enough: he's arguably given the world more whistleable tunes than any other human who ever lived. In 2011, a second exemption was granted to a 10-year-old boy (name never given) who had turned around his academic record.
Now, the Burlington beadles have bestowed a third exemption upon Geert Chatrou. The Dutchman is listed on his Wikipedia page as a "professional whistler", and winner of many competitions. He is currently serving as ringmaster with Cirque de Soleil at the Royal Albert Hall.
It's not clear why Chatrou was granted this distinct honour right now, though we suspect the PR teams representing Burlington Arcade and Cirque de Soleil have been whistling from the same hymn sheet.
