EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: David Cameron could be making up to £200,000 a year as it’s revealed he’s renting out his famous Notting Hill home AND his Cornish holiday retreat

Few money-making ploys can be more addictive than plunging into the golden gravy of the international speaking circuit – which rewards retired, or rejected, politicians with mouthwatering fees which can be well over £100,000-a-time.

But David Cameron seems admirably equipped to survive without them, despite being dramatically reinstated to frontline politics as Foreign Secretary, in which role he receives a £104,000 salary – no more, in other words, than he would have picked up for a single speech to a fat-cat, corporate audience.

For I can disclose that his property portfolio is enabling him to supplement his government pay with some very agreeable rental income which could yield as much as £200,000-a-year, perhaps even more.

Newly ennobled as Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the former prime minister is now obliged to record sources of non-parliamentary income and crisply summarises them as ‘property in Cornwall’ and ‘property in north-west London’, from both of which ‘rental income is received’.

No further details are required, but in Cameron’s case the income comes from two family houses – one, in north Cornwall, which he snapped up for £2million in 2017; the other, the London house where he and his wife, Samantha, lived for several years as he and other members of the ‘Notting Hill Set’ plotted his way to Downing Street.

Lord Cameron snapped up the Cornish pad for £2 million in 2017; the other home is the London house where he and his wife, Samantha, lived for several years as he and other members of the ‘Notting Hill Set’ plotted his way to Downing Street 

This is the London house where Lord Cameron and his wife, Samantha, lived for several years as he and other members of the ‘Notting Hill Set’ plotted his way to Downing Street

The Cornish property has some very ‘Cameronian’ touches, including an £8,000 wood-fired hot tub, a 1,140 sq ft wooden ‘man cave’ – and a £25,000 shepherd’s hut like the one at their Cotswolds house which the couple are seemingly retaining for their own use. Lesser houses nearby in Cornwall are let for £3,250-a-month, so Dave and Sam will surely be disappointed if theirs fails to bring in at least £4,000 a month.

But that’s effortlessly eclipsed by their London property. No other houses in their delightfully quiet, tree-lined street are currently advertised by Notting Hill’s lettings agencies. But those in neighbouring streets are available – some for £8,000-a-month, while a brace of three-bedroom flats are up for grabs at £17,000-a-month and £26,000-a-month respectively.

Should be fun counting up the money at Chevening – the sumptuous residence in Kent which is at the Foreign Secretary’s disposal – when its current refurbishment has been completed.

Cara’s family see their bottom line decline

Cara Delevigne notched up £32,000 per day in earnings last year, but the figures for her family property business are not nearly so pretty.

The bottom line at Harvey White Properties declined by £3.8 million in the 12 months to May, according to accounts.

The firm, set up in the 1960s is, however, still a multi-million-pound venture, with shareholder funds retained at £33.4 million. Though its activities generated a £900,000 trading profit, it was hit by a decline in property values. As well as owning property in London, the business operates a subsidiary in Sri Lanka. Its assets were reported at £44.3 million as at the date of the accounts.

Cara’s sister Poppy, a fellow model, and their father, Charles, are among family members with a stake in the firm.

Sir Chris Hoy described his devotion to cycling as ‘obsessive’, with the Olympics star pedalling for 35 hours a week and consuming up to 6,000 calories daily at the height of his career. Since Covid lockdowns, the retired gold medallist has turned his extreme dedication to a new craft: barbecuing. ‘I don’t like getting up in the morning much, but I will get up at 5am to put the brisket on,’ he explains. ‘Then, 12 hours later, it’s ready.’ Hoy controls his £3,700 grill with his smartphone and even has a wireless probe to check the temperature. ‘I have a wagyu brisket coming soon which I’m really excited for,’ he adds.

Sir Chris Hoy described his devotion to cycling as ‘obsessive’, with the Olympics star pedalling for 35 hours a week and consuming up to 6,000 calories daily at the height of his career. Since Covid lockdowns, the retired gold medallist has turned his extreme dedication to a new craft: barbecuing

Party is all the rave at Spencer seat

What music would you expect to hear at a black-tie party at one of England’s finest stately homes? A string quartet, perhaps, or a lone harpist in the corner of the drawing room? Earl Spencer prefers a full-on rave.

I hear that Princess Diana’s younger brother invited his son Ned, 20, to DJ at the event at Althorp, his ancestral home in Northamptonshire.

Ned was pictured hunched over the decks set up in the historic library at the Grade I-listed pile. Guests at the party included Ned’s sister Lady Lara Spencer, 17, whose mother is Charles Spencer’s second wife, Caroline.

Also there were the earl’s stepdaughters, fashion-stylist Kate Gordon, 22, and her sister Emma, 25.

Their Canadian mother is the earl’s third, and current, wife, Karen, Countess Spencer, 51.

Why Strictly judge Shirley is selling her bras online

Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas comes top of the leaderboard for economising.

The ballroom dancer, 63, is selling her old clothes, including her frillies, on the second-hand website Vinted.

She’s seeking £8 each for items including bras, shorts, and a shirt she wore for an appearance on BBC1 programme The One Show. The range has been deemed ‘disappointing’ by one fashionista, who tells me, ‘I was hoping to see more sequinned dresses and fewer bras.’

A spokesman tells me: ‘Shirley has joined Vinted, with all proceeds going to the charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably). This is a charity close to Shirley’s heart and one that she regularly campaigns for.’

Ballas’s brother, David Rich, took his own life in 2003 at the age of 44. ‘Material things mean nothing,’ she has said. ‘Nothing is more important than your loved ones, I’d rather live in a box and have my brother with me.’

Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas comes top of the leaderboard for economising

(Very) modern manners

Henry Blofeld was hit for six when ‘quite a number’ of men at a ‘highly respectable club’ where he dined shook his hand while keeping their other hand in their trouser pocket.

‘I was horrified,’ the cricket commentator, 84, chunters to The Spectator magazine’s agony aunt, Mary Killen. ‘I was brought up to believe that this is extremely discourteous and I think it looks so sloppy.’

Gogglebox star Killen says George Clooney is on a sticky wicket when it comes to setting bad habits. She claims he ‘routinely keeps his left hand in his pocket during red-carpet Hollywood events’.

Things could go from bad to verse for Huw…

Huw Edwards is reportedly expected to leave the BBC after being given the findings of an inquiry into his alleged behaviour following claims he paid a young man for sexual images. The BBC News presenter, 62, may not like to return to the Garrick Club either.

For the gentlemen’s club in London’s Covent Garden, of which Edwards is a proud member, has published a poem on its front page about a ‘BBC scandal’ in its newsletter, The Garrick: ‘There’s always some BBC scandal/ About which everyone’s having a laugh/ But the one who can get a handle/ On the facts has retired from BBC staff/ And he thinks, but won’t say, from his Garrick chair/ ‘It wouldn’t have happened if I was still there.’ ‘

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