Disowned by Cameron, the raffish men-only club that his father once ran

By HARRY MOUNT FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 22:15 GMT, 18 July 2013 | UPDATED: 16:22 GMT, 19 July 2013
As the BBC is embroiled in yet another row over sexism after presenter John Inve
rdale's poorly judged on air-comments, and MPs scramble in Westminster to conde
mn male-only establishments - just down the road, at White's in St James's, it
is very much business as usual. The exclusive membership only establishment - t
he 'original 'old boy's club' - is the grandest, oldest and most notoriously dif
ficult to gain entrance to. Once, every Prime Minister from Robert Walpole in th
e early 18th century to Robert Peel in the mid-19th was a member, and the club b
oasts a bar which 'has not shut for 200 years'. But White's - to which only one
woman, the Queen, has ever been allowed entrance - was quietly disowned by David
Cameron in 2008, despite his father Ian once being chairman. The Prime Minister
is said to be the only member to have left of his own free will.
Here, HARRY MOUNT takes a look at the history of Britain s most notorious male onl
y club - where rakes, rogues and royals have drunk side by side.
The Culture Secretary Maria Miller would, it s safe to say, disapprove of White s, t
he grandest, oldest, raciest gentlemen s club in London. But, then again, she s unli
kely to be invited to visit. The only woman who s ever been entertained there is H
er Majesty the Queen.
All-male clubs have been the subject of Mrs Miller s ire this week as she attacked
the men-only policy of Muirfield, which is hosting golf s Open Championship.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister gave her his full support. A spokesman for David C
ameron condemned such all-male clubs as looking more to the past than they do to
the future .
Photo 1: Ex-member, David Cameron resigned from White's despite his late father
Ian Cameron (right) being the ex-chairman of the club
Photo 2: White's Club in London's Piccadilly has also attracted its fair share o
f rogues and was implicated in the great 'Cambridge Spies' scandal
But Mr Cameron was not always so high-minded.
Until fairly recently he was a member of the notorious White s club, just up the r
oad from St James s Palace. Indeed his late father, Ian, was its chairman. But the
future Prime Minister tactically resigned when Leader of the Opposition because
the all-male club didn t fit with his vision of modern Conservatism.
It is said that he is the only member to have left of his own free will
and no
t by death or shameful forced resignation.
Photo 3: The only woman who has ever been entertained at White's is Her Majesty
the Queen, seen here leaving the normally men only club, in 1991
Photo 4: Prince Charles is a member and held his Bollinger champagne-fuelled sta
g night at the club before his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, seen here leaving
the club after the evening in 1981
Photo 5: Prince William is said to be a member of the exclusive club
The club was founded in 1693 as a hot-chocolate house by an Italian, Francesco
Bianco, whose name translated into Francis White and thus White s. It soon graduat
ed to more intoxicating practices, notably heavy drinking and gambling.
For centuries, it has taken pride in its reputation as the hardest of the London
gentleman s clubs to get into.
The Victorian Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, said there were only two things
that an Englishman cannot command being made a Knight of the Garter or a member
of White s.

There is a long waiting list to join and many applicants are still blackballed
r
ejected
by existing members. New members must be vouched for by 35 signatories a
nd membership is more than 850 a year.
The late journalist Auberon Waugh
whose father Evelyn was a devoted White s member
was blackballed in 1995 by anonymous enemies at the club. In the Spectator, Wau
gh retaliated, writing of the insecure, big-bottomed men who think that membershi
p of White s gives them some sort of social cachet ... White s has always had its fa
ir share of shits and twerps and pompous bores .
Since then, the White s Club Shit has entered club slang to mean the worst sort of n
asty, selfish, pompous show-off.
Still, in its 300-year history, the club has played host to some illustrious mem
bers and a glittering array of politicians.
Among its old members are the Duke of Wellington, the Regency dandy Beau Brumm
ell, George IV, William IV, Edward VII and Winston Churchill s son, Randolph. Pri
nce Charles is a member and held his Bollinger champagne-fuelled stag night at t
he club before his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer.
Prince William is said to be a member.
The club has also attracted its fair share of rogues.
White s was implicated in the great Cambridge Spies scandal. Some have claimed that
the recruitment and subsequent movements of Guy Burgess, Donald Duart Maclean, K
im Philby and Anthony Blunt were orchestrated from the club s bar.
Meanwhile, in his novels Evelyn Waugh used the club as the model for Bellamy s , the
home of grandee and card sharper, duellist and statesman .
Certainly, gambling has always been part of the fabric of White s. In William Hoga
rth s 1733 series of cautionary paintings
The Rake s Progress
the rake is driven mad
by losing his fortune at the gaming tables of White s.
Photo 6: Victorian Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, said there were only two t
hings that an Englishman cannot command - being made a Knight of the Garter or a
member of White's
The club s betting book is full of some remarkably odd not to mention expensive
be
ts. In the 18th century, one member bet another that a man could live under wate
r for 12 hours. He employed a man to sink himself in a ship, but he couldn t last
the full time period so the bet and the man s life
were lost.
Then in the early 19th century, a fabulously rich peer, Lord Alvanley, bet a fri
end 3,000 (approaching 200,000 in today s money) that one raindrop would beat anothe
r to the bottom of the bow window that dominates the front of the club. It is no
t recorded whether he won his bet.
But before retiring to the gaming tables, there is the not inconsiderable questi
on of dinner.
White s menu revolves around the best of British game. Think Downton Abbey transpl
anted to central London: grouse, partridge, wild salmon, gull s eggs, potted shrim
ps, smoked eel and smoked trout.
The vegetarian option is unpopular. In one seven-year period, only three vegetar
ian portions were sold.
While cultivating its raffish elements, White s has also always seen itself as a d
istinctly political club.
Every Prime Minister from Robert Walpole in the early 18th century to Robert Pee
l in the mid-19th was a member.
After the war, the Labour MP and Health Minister, Aneurin Bevan, made a visit t
o the club as a guest.
Not long before, he d described Tories as lower than vermin . One member, John Fox-S
trangways, took such exception to the comment that he kicked Bevan on club pre
mises. He was forced to resign as a result.
There are fewer Tory MPs among the members these days but the profile of the mem
bership remains distinctly Conservative.
The drinking, too, is a little less wild than in the 18th century, but the bar
remains busy at all hours of the day and night. A few years ago, a new member as
ked Wheeler, the then long-serving barman, whether the bar was open.

Bless my soul, sir,

Wheeler replied, It has been open for 200 years.

Harry Mount is the author of How England Made the English (Viking)