He thought Dave knew less about history than his dog

OLD AGE did nothing to soften Kidson’s stance on giving praise to pupils.

When asked what David Cameron (right) was like at school, he delighted in describing him as ‘a totally unremarkable boy’, adding that the ‘A’ he had achieved in History A-Level was ‘among the most inexplicable events in modern history’.

For all that, he was intensely proud of having taught a future Prime Minister, as became clear in 2009 when some 60 Old Etonians commandeered White’s in London and held an 80th birthday party for him.

He greeted his well-wishers with familiar spiky disdain, but old boy Nicky Dunne recalls that when he rose to speak following the toasts, which included a letter of tribute from Cameron, his voice quickly fell away.

‘Overcome by the emotion of the occasion he quickly sat back down, his cheeks, for the first time I had ever witnessed, wet with tears,’ recalls Dunne.

‘His adoring pupils, similarly affected, rose as one, banging the table and roaring our appreciation for long minutes. It was the last time I saw him.’

At Eton, those leaving at the end of the sixth form traditionally give each of their teachers a ‘leaver’s photograph’.photograph’ On his one to Kidson Kidson, David Cameron wrote: ‘I know you think that I know less history than your dog, but all the same I greatly enjoyed being taught by you.

‘As you once said, I fear the Oxbridge dons may well be more perceptive than the A-level markers, but the strangest things can always happen.

‘Thank you once again for everything, love David.’