Monday, 21 September 2026

Tibor Urgay in The Gardener

 

Nude gardener takes off his shorts - Tibor Urgay by Royale Studio 1959
 

Tibor Urgay seems to have been Basil Clavering's favourite model for a while. He strikes up a strange relationship with a statue in 'The Gardener' which is the latest addition to the Royale Studio Gallery. He's sporting a new cropped hairstyle but not a lot of clothes.

View 'The Gardener'

See Tibor's other sets 

If any reader has a missing picture from this set,
 please get in touch via my profile page! 

Sunday, 20 September 2026

The Most Popular Royale Studio Storyettes 2

This table shows the most frequently visited Royale Studio storyettes at mitchmen. 

The hit rates are adjusted to reflect how long it is since they were added.

A bare chested sailor, fights off a biker thug and steals his jacket. Royale Studio 1959
The Sailor Turns On His Attacker in 'The Wallet' by Royale

 'The Wallet' is currently the hottest storyette at mitchmen Royale Studio blog. You can see a different perspective in the all-time most visited posts.

 

Table of Storyettes by Hit Frequency  

To view any of the entries, use the link provided. The reference number next to the title identifies the storyette link in the side bar to the right of this post.  


Seq Title Hits Hit Rate Published


to 13/09/26 per yr
1 19 The Wallet 79 994 15/08/26
2 01 Shanghai'd Sailor 1289 477 31/12/23
3 50 Tough Schoolmaster 107 376 01/06/26
4 24 Leather Merchants 48 228 28/06/26
5 42 The Thief 46 218 28/06/26
6 17 Scout Recruit 210 209 12/09/25
7 08 Unapproved School 698 192 26/01/23
8 14 The Stolen Motorcycle 360 189 19/10/24
9 93 Caned Sailors 425 178 25/04/24
10 12 Football Ballet 627 173 28/01/23
11 38 Whip Duel 364 169 20/07/24
12 41 The Redcap and the Deserter 204 168 27/06/25
13 91 Sailors in the Rigging 443 163 29/12/23
14 09 Escape 465 162 31/10/23
15 40 The Captive 538 155 29/03/23
16 23 Plumber's Mate 173 149 16/07/25
17 18d The Arrest 2 (ERTR-3) 97 148 16/01/26
18 18e The Wrestlers (ERTR-4) 74 148 15/03/26
19 11 Gym Instructor 534 147 28/01/23
20 05 Airman Gym Spanking 539 146 03/01/23
stats compiled on Sept 13 2026
 

Notes

1.

Most of the storyettes in the top five spots are recent additions reflecting the initial surge of interest and promotion by me. This table will look very different in a year's time! 

2. 

Shanghai'ed Sailor's position at number two therefore looks all the more impressive. It has been relatively unknown in the past but has one of the strongest storylines, with a very sixties, downbeat ending.  

It may also be receiving an artificial boost from being number one in the storyette list. Some storyettes also gain from being nominated as landing places for links from other sites.

3.

Scout Recruit (at 6) used to enjoy a similar obscurity, despite having some stunning spanking images. It now seems to be enjoying the attention it deserves.  

4. 

Unapproved School (at 7) is the 'oldest' post in the table and undoubtedly one of the all-time most popular storyettes and deservedly so. 

 

Friday, 18 September 2026

The Most Popular Royale Studio Storyettes 1

Top 20 Most Viewed Royale Storyettes
(since being posted)

A kidnapped sailor is put up for sale at a slave auction. Photo by Royale Studio
Shanghai'ed Sailor - Peter George is put up for sale

To view any of the entries, use the reference numbers associated with the titles to find the storyette link in the side bar to the right of this post. 
 

No

Title & Ref No

Hits

1 01 Shanghaied Sailor 1289
2 08 Unapproved School 698
3 12 Football Ballet 627
4 05 Airman Gym Spanking 539
5 40 The Captive 538
6 11 Gym Instructor 534
7 07 The Toughening 490
8 02 Navy Romeo 488
9 10 The Recruit 476
10 09 Escape 465
11 15 Soldier Sailor 446
12 91 Sailors in the Rigging 443
13 06 Teddy Boy and Sailor 438
=14 04 Bullies 425
=14 93 Caned Sailors 425
16 48 The Horse Guard's Batman 421
17 81 The Scout 394
18 03 Navy Gash 390
19 37 Wrestling Urgay v Lamprill 387
20 16 PT Class 367
 

Notes

1. 

Stats taken on 13th Sept

2. 

The number of hits depends not just on popularity, but on how long the storyette has been posted at the site. A separate table to follow gives hit rates, which adjusts for time (but has it's own limitations).

3.

The astonishing total for 'Shanghai'd Sailor' at No. 1 can be partly attributed to it's obscurity before posting at this blog. It may also simply be related to being first entry in the index of storyettes in the right sidebar. 

Sunday, 13 September 2026

Tibor Urgay - Classical Nudes

Classical Nudes -  Clavering's Creativity with Tibor Urgay 

Tibor Urgay as The Bound Slave standing on an Auction Block, Royale Studio, 1958
Tibor Urgay as The Bound Slave (from set TIV4)

Royale had a stock set of poses and props that most of their models were cycled through, but the look and personality of certain, special models seemed to stoke Clavering's creativity to heights that were ground-breaking by the standards of 50s, beefcake photography. Don Avard was one and Tibor Urgay was another. This is exemplified by the photos in Tibor's, TIB4 set, which I have titled 'Classical Nudes'.
 
 

Saturday, 12 September 2026

The most popular articles at the Royale Studio blog

 A list of the most visited posts at the Royale Studio blog 

 (as of September, 2026)
 
Bare top sailor flogged in ship's rigging by Hussar Studio 1960s 
 
 
This list covers the posts on the front page of the blog. They consist of general articles about Royale Studio and the people and places connected with it, plus announcements about new additions to the Archive of storyettes and models. The 'popular posts' gadget in the  right sidebar, just below the index of Royale models presently shows the all time most visited posts (according to blogger's statistics). 
 

Presently top of the list are the key, reference articles about the site.


The Introduction and Objectives is followed by the Royale Studio Timeline, which charts the spectacular rise and equally sudden fall of the enterprise's fortunes.  
An Article about the Organisation of the Picture Archive is at seven and an explanation of the use of AI to enhance picture quality  at this site is at 4. An important article about Sources, where copies of Royale images can be found is at 8.
 

A further group of articles in the list adds detail to what we know about Royale. 


Third in the list is a review of Basil Clavering's book about Corporal Punishment in the military, 'Under The Lash'. Clavering's interest in CP dominates his storyettes.  
  110, Denbigh St discusses how Clavering used his home as the headquarters for the whole project.

 The top 10 is completed by a sprinkling of announcements.


These are  about new additions to the Gallery of pictures. At number 5, somewhat surprisingly, is the bare notification to readers about the addition of 'The Arrest' to the list of storyettes. It maybe that another blogger has used this article as a landing site for people interested in Royale. A more substantial announcement about the little-known IRESC, or Scout Recruitment storyette is at 9 and just creeping into 10th place are two of the leading models, Tibor Urgay and Brian Lamprill, pitted against each other in a nude wrestling match.
 

Further articles in this series will list the most popular storyette and model pages 


Friday, 11 September 2026

Storyette 42, The Thief, new image added

A footballer apprehends a wallet thief in the locker room
'The Thief' image 01 by Royale Studio

A further image from 'The Thief' storyette has been rediscovered in the depths of my filing system and re-united with set. In this photo-set by Royale Studio, a soccer player, Ron Fenn finds a teammate (Ian McAllister) furtively rifling through the team's pockets in the dressing room and gives him a hard time, before handing him over to the police. There are parallels with the better preserved "Wallet", storyette 19, but with a more conventional outcome.

 View the updated version of 'The Thief'

View the background profile of 'The Thief'

Wednesday, 2 September 2026

'The Wallet' - Colour version added to the archive

Royale's shocking storyette
about a bar room encounter (now in colour for the first time).

A muscular sailor turns his back on a leather-clad stalker, who wants to rob him
Royale Studio - The Wallet 03 (colourised by mitchmen)
 

I have posted a complete, colourised version of 'The Wallet' at the Gallery. It's accompanied by a bare outline of the plot with no commentary. This is the earliest Royale story with a genuine, dramatic plot line. It's come down to us complete and though the images are not of the finest quality, most of them have come up well in colour. 

'The Wallet' stars Ron Fenn (aka the Tough Schoolmaster) and Ian McAllister (co-star in TEDS). As you might guess from the picture above, it's about a pickpocket, but there's a surprising, shocking climax. The hidden subtext makes it one of Clavering's more political statements about the plight of gay men in 50s Britain (discussed in the black and white article, link below).

McAllister's pose in the picture above (right) might remind you of a well-known image of a sailor by Lüger (aka Colt) and I cover that link in the black and white, gallery article.

Read 'The Wallet' in colour.

Read 'The Wallet' profile page for the background

Go direct to the original, black and white  Gallery article