Tom Manlick

Tom Manlick - Royale Studio's "Naked Horse Guard" Model

Tom Manlick as a Horse Guard

There are only two sets of photos featuring Tom Manlick presently known to the Archive, but his contribution to the emerging definition of Royale Studio in its early years was significant. Little is known about him. His improbable name might be a playful corruption of a Central European surname, these commonly end in -ic or -ich. 

Tom's Appearances For Royale 

Horse Guard (Solo set)  

Tom poses dressed in a genuine Horse Guard's uniform but wearing a posing pouch with a chain covering instead of riding breeches. It's not documented if this uniform was his own, as a member of that unit, but these things don't grow on trees! 

It's likely this set was photographed in 1958, like the storyette below. More about this in the full article 

The original number of images is unknown, the Archive has just 4 (plus a maybe). The full set may have contained images of him out of uniform. 

The Lifeguards, part of the monarch's personal guard, feature in many accounts of gay life in London in the 50/60's, being known to frequent certain pubs and notoriously available for rent in exchange for drinks. In the 1970s a full-blown scandal emerged when 'Guys In Uniform' emulated Royale Studio by recruiting serving soldiers from the Guards to pose in their spanking pictures.

Football Ballet Parts 1 & 2 (1958)

Tom (arrowed) is a member of an unruly football team. He appears shirtless in tight shorts and is caned. It's not clear if he appears in Part 2, there are no images that show him