How Dave threw Ibiza rave for Sam Cam at Chequers
THE Prime Minister’s country residence Chequers has never seen anything like it. The grand Buckinghamshire stately home is where Margaret Thatcher entertained Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, where Winston Churchill made his wartime broadcasts and where Elizabeth I imprisoned Lady Mary Grey.
David and Samantha Cameron’s Christmas bash at Chequers last Friday, which also doubled as a (very) belated 40th birthday for the Prime Minister’s wife, was an Ibiza-style rave with the star attraction being DJ Sarah HB (short for ‘Hard Bitch’), who in the past has admitted to taking drugs.
Among the 200 guests invited by Sam Cam were comedian Harry Enfield, actress Helena Bonham Carter, designer Karen Millen and Radio 4 presenter Sarah Montague ( whose husband Sir Christoph Brooke is an Old Etonian contemporary of the PM). The Chipping Norton set was represented by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson.
The evening promised an unusual combination of ‘cocktails and curry’, but it was the music which raised the most eyebrows and exhibited Sam Cam’s racy side. The richly wood-panelled Great Hall, which is decked out with Old Masters, including a portrait of Charles I by Anthony van Dyck, was transformed into a disco, with a dance floor installed for the occasion.
The Prime Minister, 48, was throwing shapes in an open-necked collar and jeans, and dancing went on until 3am.
Sarah HB, real name Sarah Mastronardi, was chosen by Sam Cam to spin the discs. Mrs Cameron is familiar with the contemporary music scene having attended an International Music Industry night in Ibiza in 2011, and she rented a villa on the Balearic island last year.
Mastronardi, 47, has spoken of how she was inspired by using drugs. ‘I know that drugs can do terrible damage, but it’s got to be said, they can be quite fun, too,’ she said in a 2008 interview.
‘We were on a ride that was either going to take us somewhere great or leave us swamped by the drugs. Initially, it was these great Californian Es, then bastardised and bad drugs came in. I certainly dabbled.’
Sarah lives in Hampstead with her 47-year- old husband Guy Wingate, co-creator of radio station Kiss FM. It was an illegal ‘pirate’ station until it was relaunched as a legal broadcaster in 1990, when Sarah joined as a DJ.
Wingate was responsible for the first ever ‘Acid House’ party, which was held on one of the Kiss nights he launched at the Wag Club in London’s West End in the Eighties.
Sarah’s performance last Friday clearly proved nerve-racking. ‘Funny tummy,’ she told her followers on
social media i n advance of the bash. ‘DJ nerves, biggest gig of my career perhaps, what to wear?, It’s about the music . . . Breathe.’
One f ollower mysteriously commented: ‘ Hope you have your drops!’ Sarah replied: ‘Yes I’ve been taking them.’ On Sunday, she said: ‘Me happy — recovery zone after best gig ever.’
The other mystery of the night was why Sam Cam, who turns 44 in April, was celebrating her 40th in December. She did not mark the milestone in 2011 as she had just given birth to her youngest child Florence.
Downing Street refuses to comment, but sources say Mr Cameron footed the party bill himself.