Late night Ibiza raves and boozy parties at Chequers: Why there's a LOT more to SamCam than red wigs and £3,400 cookers PM's wife drew attention when she donned a red wig for Comic Relief Commentators focused on the high-end consumer products in family kitchen Low-key profile masks colourful side with a friend saying she 'loves a party' First and last on the dance-floor at Steve Hilton's leaving party last year She was spotted amongst revellers at Ibiza party hosted by 2manyDJs Dolled-up in a scarlet wig, Samantha Cameron smiled cutely for Comic Relief's cameraman last week, as she showed off a tray of freshly baked flapjacks, tiffin cakes and "moon rock" biscuits. With her neatly tied pinny, the PM's high-powered, 41-year-old wife was in full-on domestic goddess mode during the photo-op, like a zany version of Nigella Lawson. But in politics, detail is everything. And when the public's eyes strayed to the background of the PR pictures - shot in the Cameron family's No 11 Downing Street flat - two very different interpretations of the scene began to emerge. Supermum: Samantha Cameron with her children pictured in the background posing in a red wig for Comic Relief To admirers, the images showed "Sam Cam" at her best: cheerfully joining thousands of other yummy mums by helping two of her children to raise money and awareness for Red Nose Day. Behind her, spilling flour across the brushed steel work-surfaces as they prepared goodies for a Comic Relief "bake sale" were nine-year-old daughter Nancy, and seven-year-old son Elwen, who had gelled his hair into spikes. By last night, the young duo had made £230 selling their treats to Downing Street staff, beating last year's total by almost 50 per cent. That's a rate of economic growth their father would kill for. Bravo! Summer stroll: The Prime Minister and his wife Samantha walking hand-in-hand through the centre of Santa Gertrudis at the beginning of their holiday on the island of Ibiza in 2011 Yet, as ever, Cameron's political opponents found little to cheer. They looked straight past the bunting and the balloons, and blithely ignored Samantha's efforts to raise cash for a good cause. Instead, their attention lingered on the high-end consumer products on show in the kitchen, which the Camerons refurbished last year, at their own expense. The facelift cost between £25,000 and £28,000. Just look at the £299 Magimix blender, they carped, or the £3,400 Britannia Range cooker and £130 Dualit toaster. Look at the £500 Rancilio espresso machine, and that vast, American-style metal fridge. Such extravagance! In some corners of the internet, mean-spirited cynics even suggested that the "home-baked" goods in Mrs Cameron's Comic Relief pictures looked a little too perfect - and must therefore have been prepared by professionals. Downing Street vigorously denied that claim. But the very fact that something as innocuous as a charity photo-call could spark hostility speaks volumes for the brickbats a modern PM's spouse must endure. Little wonder, then, that Mrs Cameron has adopted a distinctly low-key role since moving her family in almost three years ago. Unlike both of her most immediate predecessors, Cherie Blair and Sarah Brown, she has attended the bare minimum of official events, and taken on almost no formal duties, aside from her role as an ambassador for the British Fashion Council. Though politically savvy, and hugely capable, she has spoken in public only rarely. "Sam doesn't much like being the centre of attention and thinks it's far more important to maintain a family life and some sense of normality," says one of her closest friends. That doesn't just happen when you're in Downing Street; you have to really work at it. So that's what she's been concentrating on for the past three years. Revelations about Mrs Cameron's influence on her husband's premiership have duly been few. But we do know that she occasionally helps load his iPod with fashionable music - rap artist Azealia Banks and Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit are current favourites - and his wardrobe with clothes. Dance fan: In 2011, on one of her occasional trips to Ibiza, she was spotted among revellers until midnight at a dance party hosted by the Belgian club act 2manyDJs "When I go shopping, my wife doesn't allow me to look around the store at all," confessed Mr Cameron, at a recent fashion week event. I'm put into a changing room and things are passed to me like you would pass food to a prisoner. His wife's low profile has perhaps masked a colourful streak. As her famous gap-year ankle tattoo of a dolphin and highly successful career in the fashion industry suggests, Samantha Cameron has always socialised with a fast set. Sam's a very organised person, because with a young family you have to be, but she also has a huge sense of fun. She's not a big drinker these days, and her 20s were a long time ago, but she's always absolutely loved a party," says one friend. "She still smokes cigarettes, from time to time, and is quite a foodie," adds another. In many ways, I'd call her a normal fortysomething mum who likes to cut loose on the few occasions she can. Good time: One friend said that Mrs Cameron has 'always absolutely loved a party' In 2011, on one of her occasional trips to Ibiza, she was spotted among revellers until midnight at a dance party hosted by the Belgian club act 2manyDJs. Former Downing Street aide Steve Hilton's leaving party last year, at the Royal College of Art in London, was another case in point: guests say she was among the first onto the dance-floor, and last to leave. "She's an incredibly good mover, unlike her husband!" notes one. Another chance to "cut loose" comes during intimate week-night dinner parties, which she co-hosts at the No 11 flat with her husband. "It's a very equal relationship, and Dave is big on being a hands-on dad, so they will take turns to cook," says one former guest. Getaway: Mr and Mrs Cameron pictured with Aung San Suu Kyi on the doorstep of Chequers. The couple are also known to enjoy weekends with friends at the residence Sometimes she'll prepare food while he puts the kids to bed. Other times it's the other way round. It's a surprisingly normal set up. At weekends, the family often head to their constituency base - an L-shaped cottage in the Oxfordshire village of Chadlington, which they regard as their "proper" home. But roughly twice a month they will also entertain a mixture of old friends and official guests at Chequers. "Play dates in London are tough, because of the security and the fact that they are a long way from their London home in Notting Hill these days," I'm told. But Chequers offers a chance to meet the old chums, who will pile up there in estate cars full of kids and dogs and stay all weekend. It's a blast, especially the dinner parties, which get pretty boozy. While Dave and Sam are often off to bed relatively soon after dinner, they don't mind if the rest of us sit up till the wee hours. According to a No 10 aide, after the birth of the couple's fourth child, Florence, in 2011, Mrs Cameron told people she intended to spend time being a mum. "That's exactly what she's done," says one No 10 aide. And don't forget that she still works two days each week at her old employer, Smythson (the upmarket stationer). Unlike Cherie Blair and Sarah Brown, who had three official staffers each, she makes do with one publicly funded special adviser in Downing Street: Isabel Spearman, an old friend from the fashion industry. According to one member of the Downing Street team: "Sam hasn't gone out and made lots of new celebrity friends, like some recent predecessors did." Almost her only regular "official" events are Tuesday night drinks receptions at No 10, held every week outside the school holidays. They usually benefit disabled charities, whose cause remains close to the Camerons" hearts following the death in 2009 of their son Ivan, who had been born with severe epilepsy and cerebral palsy. "Like any parent who loses a child, she will probably always grieve," says a friend. His death was very sudden and unexpected and traumatic. They still think about him a lot. Out of the spotlight: Unlike other wives of previous Prime Ministers, Mrs Cameron keeps a low-key public profile Another friend adds: "Sam and Dave are very stoical people, but they miss Ivan a lot and talk about him all the time, especially with the kids. Sam, in particular, is fiercely committed to disability issues, and that's probably the one area of government policy that she'll really push Dave on. In the goldfish bowl of Downing Street, Mrs Cameron's typical weekday starts at 5am, when her husband's alarm clock calls him to work, though she usually dozes for another hour. After trying to squeeze in an hour-long yoga session, she usually wakes the children and cooks breakfast, which the family always tries to eat together. Outing: On a rare public appearance, Mrs Cameron is pictured with renowned designer Erdem Moralioglu at The British Fashion Awards Generally, even when she's heading to the Smythson office, Mrs Cameron drives Nancy and Elwen to school. On other days, her husband or their long-standing Nepalese nanny, Gita Lama, do the honours. The children attend St Mary Abbots, a Church of England state primary just off Kensington High Street, which is also attended by Education Secretary Michael Gove's children. "It's probably the poshest state school in the country," says a fellow parent. Sam's a positive pleb compared to some of the others! Class has long been a touchy subject for both Camerons, whose opponents have made political hay from their privileged backgrounds. Indeed, Mrs Cameron's "mockney" accent briefly became an election issue in 2010, when she gave her first major TV interview, to Sir Trevor McDonald. In it, she used 12 "you knows," four "sort ofs" and six "reallys." At the time, a Downing Street spokesman claimed: "That's how she speaks. It was just her being completely natural. But that was probably stretching things. Born Samantha Gwendoline Sheffield, Mrs Cameron is the daughter of Reggie Sheffield, a Lincolnshire baronet whose lineage can be traced back to the Crusades. On the campaign trail, she once famously claimed to have grown up "near Scunthorpe." That's true enough, though it does gloss over the fact that her family seat was a small stately home on a 300-acre estate. She was educated at Marlborough College, the Wiltshire public school where fees are now £30,000 a year. Contemporaries say she occasionally dressed as a goth, but left the real bad behaviour to her sister Emily, who is now deputy editor of Vogue magazine. Emily was expelled when drugs were found in her dormitory. "The class thing is an easy headline, but it glosses over a lot," insists one old friend. After her parents divorced, her mother [jewellery designer Annabel Astor] was basically a working mother, so this massive privilege thing isn't the Sam I know. Either way, Mrs Cameron has often credited her mother, who (under her maiden name) ran the London jewellery firm Annabel Jones, for instilling both her work ethic and her instinct for retail. Dressing up: Mrs Cameron joins another fancy dress for charity in London At Smythson, which she joined in 1996, Samantha is credited with reinvigorating the 125-year-old brand. Colleagues talk of a "fantastic eye and instinct for what a customer wants," and a refreshing "lack of ego." They credit her for introducing best-selling ranges of brightly coloured handbags and other leather accessories, which helped Smythson turn over £25 million in the past year for which accounts are available. Some friends wonder if she's been frustrated since resigning as full-time "creative director" of the firm, shortly before the 2010 election, and moving to a two-day week. Others see it as part of a calculated political gamble. After all, they note, pollsters often cite Mrs Cameron as one of her husband's greatest potential assets. She has never put a foot wrong, is warmly regarded by most voters and - despite her background - has generally displayed a common touch on the stump. That could make her a formidable asset in the 2015 election, when she's expected to be widely deployed on the campaign trail. But one Tory strategist warns: "The more voters tend to see of Downing Street wives, the less they tend to like them. Cherie Blair is the perfect example: Exhibit A. Every photo-op Samantha does will spark its share of criticism, as this Comic Relief thing shows. So she's very wise to keep her head down. Even if that head happens to be wearing a bright red wig.