The Diary: The Long Summer Lunch 2026

It seems highly fitting that the opening song of yesterday’s Long Summer Lunch was ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’ by Baccara — because yes sir, they could. In fact, the Orangery at Blenheim Palace hasn’t seen such a commotion since… well, since a couple of years ago when we did our last party there, come to think of it. Along a vast table in the Palace’s Italian Gardens, showered in golden light and, in a few excitable instances, pink champagne, guests might almost have imagined they’d been teleported to the fragrant cliffsides of Amalfi itself — albeit without the stampede of Americans in turquoise lycra golf tops who think they’re the first people to discover La Fontelina. Instead of superyachted plutocrats, meanwhile, we had helicoptered super-chaps (sorry) — with the likes of Jordan Barrett, Jerremy Irvine, Joe Kennedy, and Carl Ross, being choppered in by our good friends at Castle Air. The rest were wafted from London in the air-conditioned climes of a fleet of handsome Range Rovers — a drive of such swaddling comfort and elegance that several guests almost refused to disembark, though the enticement of an icy-cold demi-pint of Monte Carlo Beer proved encouragement enough.

Sipsmith’s array of cocktails and dinky Siptinis (they’re like a martini, except you can have four) were equally compelling, meanwhile — and had the added benefit of significantly improving the quality of one’s dance moves, too. Not that most guests required much help in that department, thanks in no small part to the highly motivating tones of the Sax Man, who scarcely rose for breath beneath a sea of Italo-disco. A multi-course cascade of rosemary focaccia, grilled Blenheim lamb, sicilian chilli tiger prawns, and a quite astonishing tiramisu provided good ballast against a happy barrage of Whispering Angel Rosé, while jeroboams of peach-pink Billecart Salmon proved, once again, that you truly can’t have too much of a good thing. Many guests decided to take that philosophy into their evenings, too, with a convoy of Range Rovers decamping en masse to Wilderness Festival as the golden sun dipped low beneath the ancient treetops. What’s the Italian for “meet top right in the Valley?”

Guests for the Gentleman’s Journal Long Summer Lunch included: George Blandford, Sean Teale, Jordan Barrett, Darnell Strom, Oli Cheshire, Isaac Hudson, Sam Way, Callum Mullin, Rueben Larkin and Jeremy Irvine