De Burgh’s birthday serenade for Mellor

AGED 32, he was the youngest minister in Mrs Thatcher’s government. On Saturday, David Mellor embraced elder statesman status when his partner, Penny, Viscountess Cobham, treated him to a 70th birthday dinner party at the Royal Over-Seas League in St James’s, London.

Ken Clarke and Sir Tim Rice gave speeches, while Lords Lamont and Chadlington mingled with the sprightlier forms of violinist Tasmin Little and soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn and 150 other guests, including newsreader Sir Martyn Lewis and former Labour cabinet minister Lord Smith of Finsbury.

But nothing thrilled Mellor more than the musical performances, provided by Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja and, later, Chris de Burgh.

‘Lady In Red and the rest,’ he tells me. ‘Everyone did it for love, which helped the bank balance. Happy Birthday was conducted by Christopher Warren-Green — coming down in the world after conducting the wedding of Harry and Meghan.’