Sailor Al

The Story of 'Sailor Al', a notable collector and source of Royale Studio imagery.

Tom Harding and Fred Collins shake hands,
from 'Fred Joins The Navy' 

'Sailor Al' is something of an elusive figure in the Royale Studio story. Copies of a number of Royale images circulate with his logo on them. As a collector he has a similar, but less intrusive, presence to that of 'Nick Shadow' whose brash logo* introduced many of us to the great, gay artists in the early days of the internet. He can be credited with helping to save the memory of Royale from oblivion.

(I would point out here, that images at this blog bearing a mitchmen-Royale logo have all been repaired/restored/enhanced by mitchmen. The untainted originals can be found at the blog archive on Google Drive).

Sailor Al is real enough, at one time he had a website dedicated to the memory of Royale Studio and Scott of London whose images had inspired him as a young sailor. There, he also recounted events from his colourful life which had included encounters with an (unnamed) former "assistant to Royale" who had possession of some of the original colour slides of 'Navy Romeo'*.

 

 

*Sailor Al knew Navy Romeo as 'The Itch', with a storyline in which the two voyeurs punished their womanising shipmate by putting itching powder in his pants. This is certainly a credible description of part one of this epic, but it doesn't tally with the 'NARO' description in the 1960 Royale Catalogue. Perhaps it was an earlier, standalone version. 

Sailor Al showcased a number of Royale images on his website, with pithy, knowledgeable critiques about the use of Royal Navy Uniforms in them. The pictures were possibly obtained from his authentic acquaintance. Because he was trying to sell copies, they were all presented in very small sizes. All of them seem to be in the public domain now.

Sailor Al's website was cited in the Milism article by Squaddie John. It was a useful source of background information. For example, that the outdoor photos for 'Unapproved School' had been taken "in the large grounds of a house owned by Royale" (see this blog's article about Royale locations, 110 Denbigh St). Also that Clavering's interest in corporal punishment was the downfall of Royale, a claim repeated by a member of the former British Photographers Yahoo Group, according to Tim in Vermont (references 1 and 9 respectively in my list of Royale Sources). 

Sailor Al's original website is no more (like the two just cited), but he later opened a blog, Sailor-Uniform which still exists, but hasn't been updated since 2023. On it he has posted an eclectic mix of naval imagery with a selection of Royale photos, including a complete set of Navy Romeo (Part 2).

Tibor Urgay in The Gardener

 

 

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! 

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.

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. 

 

The Most Popular Royale Studio Storyettes 1

Top 20 Most Viewed Royale Storyettes
(since being posted)

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. 

Tibor Urgay - Classical Nudes

Classical Nudes -  Clavering's Creativity with Tibor Urgay 

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'.

 

View Classical Nudes

 

View Tibor Urgay's full list of photo sets. 

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)

 

 

 

 

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 

Storyette 42, The Thief, new image added

'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'