It’s an annual dilemma for the Victoria and Albert Museum: who to book for the entertainment slot at their summer party? The refined crowd ranges from young to old, from mega-rich to mega-trendy (and often both at once). This year the V&A plumped for Sugababes. Standing in the pond of the museum’s Madejski garden, the trio delivered a short and very loud set of their Noughties hits. “It was okay, apart from the fact that all of their songs sounded the same,” was the verdict of fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes. “Sugababes and the V&A, eh. I’m not quite sure of the crossover,” quipped Harry Hill. David Mitchell and Victoria Coren Mitchell, who assured us they do not sing in public, looked on with the expressions of supportive if bemused parents, joking the music was so loud the museum statues might shatter.
Dame Shirley Bassey was more enthusiastic, rising from her chair for a quick two-step. She brushed off our questions about returning to do another Bond theme song and proceeded to a private view of the new Diva exhibition, where she must have felt right at home. By 9.15pm, the champagne (Justerini & Brooks) had run dry. We overheard Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw’s sore disappointment, as the hunt for cocktail alternatives began.
Honours row riles some gurus
Style guru Peter York thinks the recent controversy over Boris Johnson’s honours list has made fancy titles distinctly unchic. “Though I’ve often thought that Sir Peter York has a certain ring to it, this whole affair has made me think twice about that. I can certainly do without it. I mean, who are these people?” He was particularly exercised about Nadine Dorries, the former minister and romance novelist who was put forward for a peerage but then dropped in the final list. Dame Zandra Rhodes, who wears her honorific title proudly, has a similar view. “Honours should be for people who have contributed to Britain. They are not for women who have done f*** all for our country,” she told us. “I hope that in my case I have done things to help this country and to bolster it.”
Tome to catch Hunt’s eyes
V&A director and former Labour MP Tristram Hunt eschewed his own “summer glamour” dress code last night, opting for a politician’s suit. Does he dream of a government job? “No, I’m perfectly happy where I am,” he said. Hunt did invite one Labour insider to the party: Tom Baldwin, Keir Starmer’s biographer, who was tight-lipped about the forthcoming book. Hunt says he can’t wait to read it.
Archbishop throws a party
At a media bash in Lambeth Palace last night, the Archbishop of Canterbury joked, at the expense of Boris Johnson, that the way to get a newspaper column is to hold a party. He says he’s enjoying his new BBC radio series, The Archbishop Interviews: “The most fun interviewee was John Cleese.” So what’s the secret for bishop broadcasters? “It helps if you’re human. And if you don’t wear a cope.”
Trainers welcome in the Treasury
The Centre for Social Justice held summer drinks last night. We collared Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen, pictured left, about slipping standards in Whitehall. “Those in trainers, even in shorts, tend to be the brightest civil servants that we have,” he said. Given the choice, would he institute dress-down Fridays at the Treasury? “You know, I wouldn’t mind! But I still have to wear a suit for the Chancellor.”
