Howard Raymond, the son of Paul Raymond (dubbed the ‘King of Soho’), the real-estate magnate, club owner and the first person to open a legal nude cabaret lounge in London’s Soho, who has inherited his father’s nickname, has been in Malta on a one-week visit, staying on board his yacht that was berthed alongside the Birgu Waterfront.

He says that Malta hasn’t changed much since his last visit 20 years ago, but remarked that Birgu had undergone a massive overhaul since then in terms of its infrastructure. He described the entrance to the harbour at that time as the “end of the world Navy dockyard” but said that Birgu is now quite appealing, on spotting the high-end properties that line the old town’s waterfront.

Interviewed on board his luxurious yacht, which carries the name Soho after the part of London in which he was raised, while proudly displaying a bottle of gin under the brand name King of Soho that he is about to launch in Europe on 1 April – after having launched it in the UK – Mr Raymond said that he spent most of his childhood surrounded by women in the string of nightclubs his father owned.

During the interview, I could not help noticing the one and only painting he had on board his yacht – a work by Maltese artist Debbie Caruana Dingli which depicts a man surrounded by women.

The man is painted with his religious entourage, mother and new wife, surrounded by his girlfriends of the past.

Asked if the message the painting conveyed reminded him of his childhood, and may have subconsciously inspired him to purchase it, he replied: “Yeah, could be.” He said that he spotted the painting while browsing the internet before coming here.

“When I looked further to see where I could view the painting, it so happened that it was available for viewing at the gallery in Malta owned by Lily Agius, who happens to be the daughter of Jean Agius, the Maltese version of the ‘King of Soho’.

Mr Raymond said that he was amazed to hear from a restaurateur while dining at a restaurant in Qawra of the Maltese ‘King of Soho’.

It transpires that Mr Agius knew Howard’s dad extremely well for a good 25 years and the two had a good business relationship.

Mr Agius described Howard’s dad as a man of his word and that he lived up to the phrase “my word is my bond”.

Mr Agius had leased two properties from Mr Raymond Snr, one being the famous restaurant called The Prohibition and the other, The Directors’ Club, both of which stood on Old Compton Street in Soho. These establishments were considered one of the ‘in-places’ during the 1970s and 1980s.

Mr Raymond Snr also frequented Mr Agius’s world-famous Carrolls Jewish Salt Beef Bar at 32 Great Windmill Street and Trattoria Bacco 70 at 10 Old Compton Street.

The likes of celebrities such as Topol, who starred in the film Fiddler on the Roof and sang If I Were a Rich Man, Desmond de Silva and Desmond Keene St John were among the famous people who used to frequent Carrolls Salt Beef Bar. Paul Raymond was a guest of honour at its opening along with General Dayan of Israel, Frank Sinatra and his daughter Nancy, Joana Lumley and Jerry Hall.

Turning to his last visit to Malta, “20 odd years ago”, Mr Raymond recalled that the foundation stones of the Hilton-Portomaso project had just been laid. “They’ve ruined the view,” he said of the high-rise building within the Portomaso project.

Having taken over his father’s business after his death in 2008, Mr Raymond said that he buys properties in prime areas of London, including Mayfair, Kensington and Soho.

He also owns a chemical manufacturing company, Epicuro, which manufactures a particular chemical that seals the façades of historic old buildings to protect them.

His company is also working on a cleaning agent that may eventually be used to clean the streets of London after the company was entrusted to clean the Washington monument.

Asked if talk of family disputes over his father’s will were true, he replied in the negative. “I’ve never read such nonsense in my life; when speculation of this sort first emerged, I sued for libel and won,” he said.

Mr Raymond said that when he was a child, his father had owned a cheetah. “Owning a cheetah was not as common as owning a dog or cat and I had always been under the impression that lots of people owned cheetahs just like my family did but as I grew older I realised that this was not the case,” he said, smiling as he recalled his childhood days.

Turning to Soho, he said that not a lot had changed but pointed out that the Edwardian baroque buildings are not necessarily compatible with today’s world as it is rather difficult to update them to modern standards.

He was asked about the film King of Soho (starring Steve Coogan) which depicts his father as a London porn baron and shows how he made a vast fortune from two things – sex and property – and depicts both his heyday and his decline. Mr Raymond said that the film did not tell the real story and he had requested that its title be changed, following a legal tussle, since he owned the trademark name King of Soho, and adding that the story in the film is all fiction. In fact, the name of the film has been changed to Look of Love and opened in UK theatres in March last year.

But Mr Raymond did reveal that a motion picture will be out soon and “this is when everybody will know the real story”. He does not intend featuring in the movie but he has taken on the role of technical advisor.

Asked why his father had been dubbed the ‘King of Soho’, he replied: “My dad changed the landscape of 1950’s Soho; the name ‘Soho’ indicates a good time in many places such as Sweden, New York and Hong Kong, referring to the districts named after the original in London.

Mr Raymond’s father was a soft porn publisher but this area did not appeal to his son. “I was always involved in the leisure industry but when my dad passed away I was left with no choice but to go back into the property-buying business for the sake of my two children,” he said.

Mr Raymond is also an art lover and owns paintings by L.S. Lowry, Dame Laura Knight and Rolf Harris.

“And now, I have a Debbie Caruana Dingli painting as well,” he said. “Most of my paintings end up in ‘safe’ homes since a lot of my stuff goes to public art galleries.

“I’m a person who believes art should not be kept hidden but should be displayed for everyone to appreciate,” he said.

Mr Raymond was expected to head to Athens after Malta. “I only get to use my yacht six to eight weeks a year; it’s my crew that makes the most of my boat,” he said with a laugh.