Garrick edges closer to admitting female members after 193 years of exclusion

Internal wrangling has gone on for years over whether the Garrick Club’s rules actually prohibit women from becoming members. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

The men-only Garrick Club has edged closer to admitting female members, after an emergency committee meeting acknowledged that there was nothing in the club rules to prevent them from joining.

The late-night vote on Thursday means that women could finally become members of the club within months, 193 years after the Garrick was founded and following decades of controversy over its discriminatory rules, sources said.