Waterloo Gardens Summer Party London + Nicholas Feuillatte

House of Lords and Ladies

“Cucumber sandwiches, plenty of champagne, the Unconventional Crooners and a marquee in a beautiful garden setting crammed with friends from Westminster, Whitehall, Fleet Street and the world of business,” tempted the hard copy invitation. What’s not to love? Getting into the Westbourne groove has never been more fun, eating nosh between Nash at Carlton Gardens West, becoming unstuck between stucco, not talking politics with Jacqui Smith, the UK’s first female Home Secretary. “Significant canapés” warned the invite further and sure enough they were devoured with abandon beneath the watchful eyes of clubland: The Reform, Travellers, Athenaeum. Lord James Bethell knows how to throw a party. Lashings of Nicholas Feuillatte helped too. As twilight ended in the garden of the good and the great, Lady Melissa marched the glam troops down the steps to Pall Mall for afterhours fun at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The band played on.