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Piers Gaveston Society
The Piers Gaveston Society, or Piers Gav for short, is a dining club founded in 1977 at the University of Oxford. It is named in honour of Piers Gaveston, favourite of King Edward II of England. In recent years, parties run by the society have been the focus of increased tabloid news coverage. History The Piers Gaveston Society was founded in 1977 by a group of friends that included the brewery heir Valentine Guinness (younger son of the 3rd Baron Moyne). It was then limited to 12 male members. In 1986, an article of ''The Washington Post'' claimed Count Gottfried von Bismarck was a member of the Society and described the club as "originally an all-gay group herethe rules say members have to dress in drag and parade openly in public". The Society was first brought into the spotlight in 1983 after photos of the ball at the Park Lane Hotel leaked to the public, including photos of the young actor Hugh Grant. Motto The club's motto is la, "(Sane) non memini ne audisse unum a ...
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Edward II & Gaveston By Marcus Stone
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Saxon England, but the rule of the Norman and Plantagenet dynasties had effectively ended its use amongst the upper classes. The popularity of the name was revived when Henry III named his firstborn son, the future Edward I, as part of his efforts to promote a cult around Edward the Confessor, for whom Henry had a deep admiration. Variant forms The name has been adopted in the Iberian peninsula since the 15th century, due to Edward, King of Portugal, whose mother was English. The Spanish/Portuguese forms of the name are Eduardo and Duarte. Other variant forms include French Édouard, Italian Edoardo and Odoardo, German, Dutch, Czech and Romanian Eduard and Scandinavian Edvard. Short forms include Ed, Eddy, Eddie, Ted, Teddy and Ned. Peop ...
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London Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after being purchased by Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev, the paper ended a 180-year history of paid circulation and became a free newspaper, doubling its circulation as part of a change in its business plan. Emily Sheffield became editor in July 2020 but resigned in October 2021. History From 1827 to 2009 The newspaper was founded by barrister Stanley Lees Giffard on 21 May 1827 as ''The Standard''. The early owner of the paper was Charles Baldwin. Under the ownership of James Johnstone, ''The Standard'' became a morning paper from 29 June 1857. ''The Evening Standard'' was published from 11 June 1859. ''The Standard'' gained eminence for its detailed foreign news, notably its reporting of events of the American Civil War (1861–1865 ...
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Clubs And Societies Of The University Of Oxford
Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * Club (cigarette), a Scottish brand of cigarettes * Club (German cigarette), a German brand of cigarettes * Club Med, a holiday company Food * Club (soft drink) * Club Crackers * Club sandwich * Club (biscuit), a brand of biscuits manufactured by Jacob's (Ireland) and McVitie's (UK) Objects * Club (weapon), a blunt-force weapon * Golf club * Indian club, an exercise device * Juggling club * Throwing club, an item of sport equipment used in the club throw * Throwing club, an alternative name for a throwing stick Organizations * Club (organization), a type of association * Book discussion club, also called a book club or reading circle * Book sales club, a marketing mechanism * Cabaret club * Gentlemen's club (traditional) * Health cl ...
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Bullingdon Club
The Bullingdon Club is a private all-male dining club for Oxford University students. It is known for its wealthy members, grand banquets, and bad behaviour, including vandalism of restaurants and students' rooms. The club is known to select its members not only on the grounds of wealth and willingness to participate but also by means of education. Former pupils of public schools such as Eton, Harrow, St. Paul's, Stowe, Radley, Oundle, Shrewsbury, Rugby and Winchester form the bulk of its membership. The Bullingdon was originally a sporting club, dedicated to cricket and horse-racing, although work meetings gradually became its principal activity. Membership is expensive, with tailor-made uniforms, regular gourmet hospitality, and a tradition of on-the-spot payment for damage. The club has attracted controversy, as some members have gone on to become leading figures within Britain's political establishment. These include former Prime Minister David Cameron, former Chancellor ...
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List Of University Of Oxford Dining Clubs
This is a list of current University of Oxford dining clubs. All are social in nature, and recruit members by private invitation, for a programme of drinking and dining. Members are drawn exclusively from the student body of the University of Oxford. Most have individual costumes and traditions, and maintain a high degree of secrecy concerning their membership and activities. University wide *The Assassins (male society) *The Bullingdon Club (founded 1780; dress in navy blue tailcoats, with navy velvet collar, ivory silk lapels, brass buttons, mustard waistcoat, and a sky blue bow tie; club tie is sky blue striped with ivory; sometimes called The Buller; male society) *The Delilahs (female society) * The Gridiron Club (founded 1884; commonly called The Grid; club tie is dark blue with white gridirons; mixed gender society) *The Piers Gaveston Society (founded 1977; limited to 12 members; mixed gender society) *The Stoics (dress in black tailcoats, with bi-coloured socks, braces, an ...
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David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2010, and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney from 2001 to 2016. He identifies as a one-nation conservative, and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies. Born in London to an upper-middle-class family, Cameron was educated at Heatherdown School, Eton College, and Brasenose College, Oxford. From 1988 to 1993 he worked at the Conservative Research Department, latterly assisting the Conservative Prime Minister John Major, before leaving politics to work for Carlton Communications in 1994. Becoming an MP in 2001, he served in the opposition shadow cabinet under Conservative leader Michael Howard, and succeeded Howard in 2005. Cameron sought to rebrand the Conservat ...
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Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern prime ministers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, they sit as members of Parliament. The office of prime minister is not established by any statute or constitutional document, but exists only by long-established convention, whereby the reigning monarch appoints as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons; this individual is typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The prime minister is '' ex officio'' also First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and the minister responsible for national security. Indeed, certain privileges, such as List ...
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Member Of Parliament (United Kingdom)
In the United Kingdom, a member of Parliament (MP) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Electoral system All 650 members of the UK House of Commons are elected using the first-past-the-post voting system in single member constituencies across the whole of the United Kingdom, where each constituency has its own single representative. Elections All MP positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on a five-year cycle, or when a snap election is called. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 set out that ordinary general elections are held on the first Thursday in May, every five years. The Act was repealed in 2022. With approval from Parliament, both the 2017 and 2019 general elections were held earlier than the schedule set by the Act. If a vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation, then a constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. Under the Representation of the People Act 198 ...
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Piggate
"Piggate" refers to a claim that, during his university years, former British Prime Minister David Cameron inserted his penis and/or testicles into a dead pig's mouth as part of an initiation ceremony for the Piers Gaveston Society at Oxford University. The anecdote was reported by Michael Ashcroft and Isabel Oakeshott in their unauthorised biography of Cameron, ''Call Me Dave'', attributing the story to an anonymous Member of Parliament who was allegedly a contemporary of Cameron's at the University of Oxford. Extracts from the book were published in the '' Daily Mail'' on 20 September 2015, prior to its publication. Downing Street sources responded by saying that Cameron, who was Prime Minister at the time, would not dignify the anecdote with a response while friends reported him saying that it was "utter nonsense". Cameron said later that "a very specific denial was made a week ago". Ashcroft and Oakeshott failed to receive a response from the purported owner of a phot ...
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Blackballing
Blackballing is a rejection in a traditional form of secret ballot, where a white ball or ballot constitutes a vote in support and a black ball signifies opposition. The system is typically used where an organization's rules provide that one or two objections, rather than an at-least-50% share of votes, are sufficient to defeat a proposition. Since the seventeenth century, these rules have commonly applied to elections to membership of many gentlemen's clubs and similar institutions such as Masonic lodges and fraternities. A large supply of black and white balls is provided for voters. Each voter audibly casts a single ball into the ballot box under cover of the box, or of a combination of a cloth and the box itself, so that observers can see who votes but not how they are voting. When all voting is complete, the box is opened and the balls displayed: all present can immediately see the result, without any means of knowing which members are objecting. Process The principle of ...
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The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ...
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Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous accolades, he has received a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, Volpi Cup, and an Honorary César. , his films had grossed a total of nearly US$3 billion worldwide. In 2022 ''Time Out'' magazine listed Grant as one of Britain's Greatest Actors of all time. Grant first received attention for his early roles in acclaimed costume dramas such as Merchant-Ivory's ''Maurice'' (1987), for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, and ''The Remains of the Day'' (1993), as well as ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1995) and ''Restoration'' (1995). Grant then reached global stardom as a leading man in Richard Curtis's romantic comedy film ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' (1994), whereupon he received the Golden Globe Award and the BAFT ...
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