We’re the BECKCAMS!
Fashion labels. Cotswolds bolt-holes. Royal pals. Surfing husbands — just some of the uncanny similarities that show the Beckhams and Camerons appear to be leading double lives...
WheN david and Samantha cameron turned up to a summer party in london last week wearing matching blue outfits, onlookers spotted similarities to another celebrity couple famed for dressing alike.
could the former PM and his wife be trying to emulate david and Victoria Beckham?
‘Please, please don’t say that,’ squirmed david, but on closer inspection, the camerons do have an awful lot in common with the Beckhams. From identikit properties in the cotswolds and wives with their own clothing lines, here’s how dave and Sam cam are becoming the new Posh and Becks . . .
FASHION FORWARD
The two women have a surprising amount in common, not least the fact they’re both proud and devoted mums in their 40s.
Samantha is an astute businesswoman who was creative director of upmarket stationer Smythson, before stepping back to work two days a week while her husband was in office. With more spare time, she took pattern-cutting lessons in No.10’s dining room.
It was no surprise that when the family left downing Street Sam set up her fashion label, cefinn, launching her ‘contemporary designer’ women’s brand at Selfridges in 2017.
The range is designed to be more ‘affordable’ than luxury clothing, though a £320 sleeveless maxi dress from her ‘Go Green’ collection is not exactly low budget. Victoria, of course, is a seasoned hand at the designer clothing lark, having launched her eponymous line a decade ago. despite some heavy financial losses — doubling last year to nearly £8.5 million — the fashion world loves her.
She recently sported a £2,295 frock from her own collection.
HOME SWEET HOME Well-heeled with just the right mix of hip, the expensive streets of West london’s Notting hill are a natural haven for both families.
It has designer boutiques, good private and state schools, an array of trendy eateries and easy access out of london — for those moments when rural life calls.
The former Prime Minister’s first property was a £130,000 first-floor, one-bedroom flat, today worth around £1.5 million.
After marrying Samantha, he and and his bride took up residence in a spacious four-bedroom house a mile up the road.
They rented out the £3.5 million house while they were in downing Street, and after leaving office splashed out on some renovations (a new kitchen and two new bathrooms) and moved back in.
The Beckhams surprised many when they chose a house in holland Park as their family home, having previously had the country mansion ‘Beckingham Palace’ in herfordshire, as their UK base.
They bought their swish eightbedroom Georgian home for £ 21.4 million in 2013 after several months searching for the perfect family pad. It took three years to renovate, costing up to £8 million, and required 50 planning applications. HANDS-ON DADDIES
SINce leaving their former day jobs, the two daves have embraced stay-at-home fatherhood.
While Becks (dad to Brooklyn, 19, Romeo, 15, cruz, 13, and sixyear-old harper) keeps busy with his charity work and business interests — he still pockets a reported £ 1million a month (£35,000 a day), five years after hanging up his boots — he proudly proclaims that he loves being a stay-at-home dad. he’s previously described the nightmare of three bickering boys at breakfast, while helping daughter harper get ready before tackling the school run.
Two years after leaving office, cameron, too, has found more time to enjoy being a dad to Nancy, 14, elwen, 12, and seven-year-old Florence. he and Samantha also had an elder son, Ivan, who was severely disabled and died aged six in 2009.
cameron does the school run (he enjoyed doing this even as PM) and at christmas was pictured at london’s Winter Wonderland fair enjoying a spin on a ride with Florence.
Both dads are a dab hand in the kitchen and love tucking into British classics such as pie and mash and fish and chips, washed down with a pint of Guinness.
COUNTRY GENTS
The lush green countryside just two hours west of london is a celebrity magnet.
Sam cam and dave have been part of the chipping Norton set — which also includes TV presenter Jeremy clarkson and media executive elisabeth Murdoch (daughter of tycoon Rupert) — for almost two decades.
They bought their home in Witney when david became its MP in 2001. The honey- coloured stone ‘cottage’ is covered in climbing roses, has five bedrooms, four reception rooms and a walled garden and is worth £1.5 million today.
Sam’s in charge of interiors, all muted greys and furniture from her mother’s company, Oka.
david spends most of his time working on his autobiography from the comfort of a £25,000 shepherd’s hut, featuring a woodburning stove and insulation made from sheep’s wool.
The Beckhams are relative newcomers
to the cotswolds — but they, too, couldn’t resist the allure of those rolling Oxfordshire hills and have joined the ranks of the ‘weekend migrants’ to the area, splashing out on a £6.15 million converted barn.
Boasting nine bedrooms, ten bathrooms, two galleries, outdoor water features and an orchard, it’s a lot grander than the camerons’ country bolthole. In place of a shed, Posh and Becks have built a sprawling treehouse.
Both men have taken to the country-gent style with gusto, favouring flat caps and green wellies or walking boots. And both families also frequent nearby Soho Farmhouse, the achingly trendy private members’ club beloved by A-listers and aristocrats, including Prince harry and Meghan, George and Amal clooney and Princesses Beatrice and eugenie.
Members have spotted david B larking around with sons Brooklyn, Romeo and cruz on the table
football sets and watching sport in the ‘pub room’, while Victoria has been seen at the tennis court accompanying Harper to lessons.
David C, meanwhile, is chummy with Soho House founder Nick Jones (who is married to Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young) and he and Sam were among an intimate few dancing around the firepit to pop songs on the opening night.
FESTIVAL FUN
THe Camerons love a festival, especially when it’s on their doorstep. The former PM and his wife were spotted at the Wilderness festival in Oxfordshire — dubbed ‘Posh Stock’ — last summer.
The line-up boasted the Kaiser Chiefs, The Pretenders and Jools Holland, and the Camerons were seen rocking out to Bryan Adams. Not too posh to pitch, apparently they camped in a teepee.
Cameron has also been spotted at the Cornbury Festival and at former Blur bassist Alex James’s foodie festival, Harvest, in 2011.
The Beckhams have the edge on the trend factor, however, with David and Victoria accompanying son Brooklyn to the muddy fields of Glastonbury last year.
‘Believe it or not, I’m 42 years old and it is my first festival and first time here,’ David said at the time.
Victoria was reportedly unimpressed to arrive by helicopter and find her husband rather worse-forwear after two days’ partying.
TATTOOED LADIES THOuGH the two Davids couldn’t be more dissimilar when it comes to tattoos — the former PM wouldn’t dream of having one, while the ex-footballer’s body is
covered in them — their wives both have subtle inkings which often go unnoticed.
Victoria is thought to have as many as six, though recently she seems to have changed her mind about some and is having them removed by laser.
The Spice Girl-turned- designer had her wedding date in Roman numerals inked on her right wrist, as well as a Latin phrase (‘Again from the start’); David’s initials and a Hebrew phrase (‘Together, forever, eternally’) on her left wrist, and a Hebrew poem as well as a star to represent each family member — on her back.
Recently, she appears to have had a change of heart over her inkings and has had the poem — as well as husband David’s initials — lasered off.
Sam Cam has just the one tattoo: a small dolphin on the inside of her right foot.
‘ I had it done when I was travelling in Indonesia on my year off, just after my A-levels,’ she has explained.
‘I had it done on my foot because I thought: “You’re going to have this for ever, so you might as well feel the pain.” ’
Sam Cam says her youthful indiscretion has led to a relaxed attitude towards her children having tattoos when they are adults — something Posh shares, with her eldest son, Brooklyn, already boasting 15 inkings which
he has amassed in the 15 months since his 18th birthday.
SURFING DUDES
BOTH Davids like to exercise, and while the former PM will never match the fitness of an ex-footballer, it hasn’t stopped him trying his hand at surfing. Beckham, however, cut a rather more toned figure when he was spotted carrying his board on the beach.
Samantha and Victoria also share a passion for a robust exercise regime. In Sam’s case, she likes to run twice at the weekend.
‘It’s a form of stress relief and a bit of meditational time on my own,’ she says. Sam also tries to do two 40-minute sessions of Ashtanga yoga a week, two 30-minute weights sessions and a spot of meditation. What’s more, she attempts to fit in most of her exercise before her children get up.
As for Victoria, she works out every day and told Vogue Netherlands: ‘I go for a three-mile run every morning and I work out for an hour with a PT, which gives me enough time to get to the kitchen to puree Romeo’s avocados.’
INSTA-BRAGGING
ONE (Posh) has 20.9 million followers on the photo-sharing network Instagram; the other (Sam Cam) just 9,464.
But that doesn’t stop both brunettes sharing the minutiae of their lives online.
Victoria loves to share pictures of her exorbitantly priced clothing range, her celebrity friends and smug family updates of her brood — as well as cheesy tributes to her husband.
‘Happy Father’s Day to the best daddy in the world! We all love you so much! So many kisses from us all,’ she wrote last Sunday.
Samantha joined the site only last year, but she’s catching on fast. From visits to Buckingham Palace and sojourns in Spain, to shots of her picture-perfect garden, the insights into her lovely lifestyle are envy-inducing.
‘Pre-breakfast hike in hills above Calvi, Corsica,’ she boasted last month, alongside a stunning holiday snap. ‘Sun comes out at last in Paris,’ was another recent post.
But who needs to insta-brag when you made the invite list for a royal wedding — the Camerons were at Kate and William’s 2011 nuptials and the Beckhams were guests at that
Harry and Meghan’s do last month.