Mayhem in Magaluf? No, Oxford’s bright young brains at play!
WITH bare breasts and buttocks on display and even the more demure wearing nipple tassels and conical bras, they don’t exactly look like Britain’s brightest young minds set to be future leaders.
But these revellers are Oxford University students on their way to a secretive club’s notorious summer ball.
Families watched in disbelief as hundreds of party-goers climbed on to vintage double decker buses taking them to the bash organised by the Piers Gaveston Society.
Young women in bondage-inspired outfits, sheer negligees, thongs, bikini bottoms, fishnet tights and PVC hot pants mingled with male students, many of whom were shirtless and wearing low-slung trousers with designer underwear on show.
A father in his 30s, called Mark, spotted them waiting outside an ice rink to be taken on the five-mile trip to a marquee near Cassington as he walked with his baby in a pram. He said: ‘It’s not appropriate in front of children.’
A mother added: ‘It’s shocking and degrading. They should stay in the colleges.’
Tickets were £90 a head for the do on Wednesday night, which was billed as The Unleashing of the Primordial Powers and had a Space Odyssey dress theme.
Invitations told the guests: ‘More extravagance, less clothing. No being a d***, please be the guests others are raving about for weeks. Security will be present to ensure nobody gets hurt and there are no recording devices of any form.’
They also featured a quote from the sexually depraved 18th century French aristocrat Marquis de Sade which said: ‘Lust’s passion will be served. It demands. It militates. It tyrannises.’
Organisers using pseudonyms like Zsa Zsa Gawhore and Marilyn Monhoe arranged the party through a London events company.
The society has just a dozen members at any time, although each invites 20 to 30 guests for the annual summer ball. Previous party-goers have included Nigella Lawson, Hugh Grant and Tom Parker Bowles.
Previous themes have included The Roses of Heliogabalus, named after a 19th century Dutch oil painting depicting a Roman orgy. On that occasion togas with nothing underneath and centurions carrying leather whips were popular outfits.
Usually held in the grounds of a stately home, the balls are renowned as a venue for copious drinking, drug-taking and casual sex in total secrecy. Entertainment has included burlesque dancers and fire eaters.
A recent ball had four tents – one for drinks, one for raving, one for VIPs (society members and their special guests), and one for sex, which later became the scene of a ‘mass orgy’.
A 2003 guide to Oxford’s social calendar said: ‘Participants are whisked away by coach to a field in the middle of nowhere and promised lots of sex, music, free drink and illicit substances. Cross-dressing is as likely to feature as speed-laced jelly. It’s partbacchanal, part- orgy and the rules are simple: There are none.’
‘More extravagance, less clothing’