The Diary: Long Summer Lunch at Blenheim Palace 2024

Guests including Victor Alli, Jonah Hauer-King, Ed McVey, Harrison Osterfield and Sheyi Cole joined Gentleman's Journal for a big weekend in the countryside

How long can a long lunch last before it ceases to call itself a lunch? For four years on the trot now, Gentleman’s Journal has reserved the first Friday of August to test that conundrum to its very limits. We are proud to say that this year we may well have outdone ourselves — as this particular Long Summer Lunch lasted, in effect, an entire weekend. Do they hand out Olympic gold medals for general carousing?

Victor Alli, Ed McVey, Ben Radcliffe and Rahi Chadda

Things began, as things like this really ought to, in an Italianate garden overlooking the lake at Blenheim Palace. On a pale gravel path below the golden towers of the stately home, a very long table was laid out in wild flowers and fragrant Jo Malone candles. A cool breeze floated off the surface of the water, cleverly counteracting the unseasonably hot sun which we’d made sure to book-in ahead of time. One would think one had been teleported to the shores of Lake Como — perhaps Clooney might pop up at any minute among the vol-au-vents.

Instead, a pair of Thunder Aviation helicopters had been commandeered to ferry the great and good of London over to the grounds — spilling out guests like Victor Alli, Jonah Hauer-King, Ed McVey, Harrison Osterfield, Sheyi Cole, Luke Pasqualino, Ben Radcliffe, Victor Kunda, Che Lingo, Kit Price, and Daniel Fletcher — while a veritable armada of Bentley Bentaygas, in every colourway imaginably, scooped up the rest. They were met almost instantly by groaning trays of champagne from Billecart-Salmon, as well as vast, beading jeroboams of Domaines Ott rosé. The Sax Man himself pumped out bonhomie from a stage by an ornate fountain, much to the amusement of its pedigree ducks. A huge barbecue kept things ticking over nicely — the bearnaise budget was pushed to breaking point— with excellent salads, grilled prawns, huge hunks of ribeye steak, and some lovely chicken, all capped off by an old fashioned or three thanks to WhistlePig. Those looking for further entertainment were thrilled to learn that the Little Car Company was on hand as usual — its dinky, ingenious replicas of classic supercars zipping around the green undulations of the Blenheim parkland. We nearly lost a promising young actor to a rose bush.

Max Hurd

Callum Mullin

Francis Bourgeois

Then the herding of exquisitely dressed cats began, as the fleet of Bentleys took to shuttling guests into Wilderness Festival, just a short ten-minute trot up the road at Cornbury Manor. Things get a bit fuzzy in my notes at this point. But soon enough, it was back to Estelle Manor, the truly excellent hotel and club, for a nightcap and, yes, why not, another little night cap, if you’re offering.

The Manor, in fact, became very much ‘HQ’ for the weekend’s operations. Guests found that the cold plunge in the beautiful Eynsham Baths did a wonderful job at blowing out any unaccountable cobwebs from the evening before, while the sun-drenched pool area recalled a sort of Tuscan fever- dream all afternoon. (It’s said that the tinkling of ice cubes could be heard as far away as Chipping Norton.) As the golden-hour light descended, one was put in mind of a sort of inverse Hotel California. You can check out anytime you like — but why on earth would you want to?

Bentley Bentaygas in the Great Court

Victor Alli

Bentley Bentayga

Bentley Bentayga

Munya Chawawa

Kit Price

Zak Maoui and Rahi Chadda

The Long Summer Lunch overlooking the lake

Gustav Holst Stuge and Eleanor Wellesley

Sheyi Cole, Munya Chawawa, Chris Crosby and Carlo Gino

Eric Underwood, Brogan Fussell and Sabrina Percy

Thunder Aviation landing at Blenheim

Domaines Ott rosé

WhistlePig

Bottles of Billecart-Salmon were served

Constantin Rojahn

Billecart-Salmon champagne

Gustav Holst Stuge and Eleanor Wellesley

Harrison Osterfield

Luke Pasqualino

Tom Taylor

Charlie Van Straubenzee, Rupert Gorst and Tom St Aubyn

The Sax Man

Francis Bourgeois

Luca Faloni

Manon Dave

Che Lingo

Harry Collett

Ed McVey

Elijah Horne and Reuben Larkin

Francis Bourgeois

Perry Pearson and Rupert Gorst

Sascha Von Bismarck

Kate Boden, Claire Cockrell and Sophie Lane

Jonah Hauer-King

Callum Mullin

Jason Patel

Munya Chawawa

Tega Alexander

Victor Alli

Ciinderella Balthazar

Rosi Walden and Luca Faloni

Grace Hodge and Harry Gozzett

Joe Kennedy

Sagar Radia

Eric Underwood

Betty Bachz

Carlo Gino, Sheyi Cole, Yannick Konan, Victor Kunda and Kit Price

Kit Price

Sheyi Cole

Rahi Chadda

Carlo Gino

Victor Kunda

Daniel Fletcher

Harrison Osterfield

Ben Radcliffe

Betty Bachz

Daniel Fletcher, Yannick Konan and Betty Bachz

Joe Kennedy

Constantin Rojahn and Lawrence Van

Yannick Konan

Sagar Radia, Munya Chawawa and Jason Patel

The Little Car Company

The Little Car Company

Bentley

Thunder Aviation

Wilderness festival

Wilderness festival

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