Like so much in his life, David Cameron’s hopes for his 50th birthday celebrations were upended by Brexit.
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hopes → upend → Brexit
Back in 2016, he had envisaged a grand gathering for hundreds of the great and good at Chequers, the prime ministerial country retreat.
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he → envisage → Chequers
Plans were apparently under way – but the nation’s vote to leave the EU four months prior to his big birthday meant he was forced to quit as Prime Minister and Tory leader.
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he → leave → Minister
A decade on, as the now Lord Cameron turns 60, there’s no such minimalism to be seen.
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Cameron → turn → ?
Instead, this weekend, the former prime minister and his wife Samantha have made plans to celebrate his landmark day – his actual birthday was yesterday – in lavish style.
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birthday → make → style
On the agenda are two nights of partying for more than 100 friends at his holiday home in Cornwall, followed by a ‘surf-off’ for anyone hardy enough to venture into the water on Sunday.
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nights → party → Sunday
This will almost certainly include chef Gordon Ramsay, one of the invited guests and a big fan of surfing just like Cameron, who is noted for his enthusiasm for bodyboarding locally in a shorty wetsuit.
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who → include → wetsuit
David Cameron and his wife Samantha have made plans to celebrate his 60th in lavish style
Celebrities – including the superstar chef and his family, TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson and actress Helena Bonham Carter – were expected to gather at Cameron’s pad yesterday.
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Celebrities → make → pad
(His main home, a five-bedroom £1.5million Victorian stone house with a recently added 15m swimming pool, is in the Cotswolds.
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home → add → Cotswolds
Some locals also suggested that Bake Off host and author Nigella Lawson would be in attendance, too.
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Lawson → suggest → attendance
The Cameron crowd will enjoy two dinners provided by Paul Ainsworth, the Michelin-starred chef, based around local cuisine and served in the giant marquees which have appeared in the Camerons’ back garden.
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which → enjoy → garden
White pennants flutter from their roofs and the marquees are illuminated by festoon ‘festival’ lighting.
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marquees → flutter → lighting
Local sources say that they are well aware a ‘big do’ is about to occur and there has been talk of a really big order of breakfast pastries to be delivered today.
This summer, Ainsworth re-opened the St Enodoc hotel in Rock, where some of the guests are staying.
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some → say → guests
Specialities of the local chef – who also runs restaurant Paul Ainsworth At No6, based in a Georgian townhouse in Padstow – include Cornish Ewe lamb served with black garlic and miso aubergine, as well as Cornish lobster accompanied by a pumpkin seed praline.
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who → run → praline
His tasting menu at No6 normally runs to around £200 a head.
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menu → run → 200
On the agenda are two nights of partying for over 100 friends at Lord Cameron's holiday home in Cornwall
Meanwhile, wines for the three-day bash will come from the Waddesdon estate in Buckinghamshire owned by the Rothschild family.
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wines → party → family
The wine cellars there are rated as ‘one of the world’s most remarkable private collections’ with over 15,000 bottles, many dating back more than a century.
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cellars → rat → century
The core of the collection comes from the Rothschild family’s Bordeaux estates, Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Mouton Rothschild.
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core → come → estates
A source says: ‘Everyone will gather from Friday and there are dinners on Friday and Saturday evening, with Saturday as the main event.
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Everyone → say → event
There will be surfing on Sunday to blow away the hangovers and then a giant cream tea before people go home.’
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people → blow → hangovers
Cameron’s holiday home, which overlooks the area’s striking cliffs, is certainly tailored to hosting a bash like this.
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which → overlook → this
Purchased in 2017 for £2million, it was, Cameron said at the time, one of his ‘bucket list’ items.
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Cameron → purchase → items
It has since been remodelled to fit a ‘chillaxing’ vibe, in keeping with its owner’s famous love of a party.
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It → remodelle → party
Additions include a snooker room which was constructed with a flat Sedum roof – a green ‘living’ roof covered with vegetation – in 2019.
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which → include → 2019
Cameron famously installed a £25,000 hut, with walls lined in sheep’s wool and a wood-burning stove, in his Cotswolds garden, using it to write his memoirs, before adding a similar one to his Cornish property.
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Cameron → instal → property
And locals this week told the Daily Mail the Camerons often visit, with one observing: ‘He keeps a low profile and tends to blend in.
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He → tell → profile
He and Samantha have been spotted on the coast path and you see him bodyboarding.
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him → spot → path
There’s also a good chance karaoke might feature this weekend.
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karaoke → ’ → ?
Cameron is a keen party singer, with his go-to choice The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night, which he says he favours because it’s ‘old, familiar and fairly easy to sing’.
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it → say → choice
He notably performed it at a birthday party for Blur bassist Alex James in 2010.
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He → perform → 2010
He also likes belting out Frank Sinatra’s My Way.
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He → like → Way
He sits in the Lords as Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton.
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He → sit → Norton
Married to Samantha, he has three children, Nancy, Florence and Arthur, who are now grown up.
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who → marry → children
A fourth child, Ivan, died in 2009 aged six.
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child → die → 2009
The family’s Cornish property has already made headlines for its parties.
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property → make → parties
In 2019, it was reported that Cameron had to eject teenage friends of his then 15-year-old daughter after a gathering got a little out of hand.
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gathering → report → hand
Newspapers reported at the time: ‘While Nancy is adamant they weren’t drinking, David was joking to locals that he’s sure they were p***ed as newts.’
As well as celebrities, political friends will also be at his 60th.
Oxford University friend Andrew Feldman, now Lord Feldman, the former co-chair of the Conservative Party who was made a life peer by Cameron in 2010, is set to join the gathering.
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who → report → gathering
Absent will be former friends who no longer feature in his social circle.
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who → feature → circle
Former education secretary Michael Gove – with whom Cameron famously fell out over their differing opinions on Brexit – remains persona non grata.
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Cameron → fall → Brexit
And Sasha Swire, wife of former Tory MP Hugo, is also unlikely to attend after her headline- grabbing memoirs which revealed much about Cameron’s off-duty partying.
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which → attend → partying
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
