Where are my parents? The question from little Nancy when she found the Camerons had left the pub without her

  • The Camerons only realised Nancy was missing once they arrived home, two-miles away from the pub
  • David and Samantha were travelling in separate cars and both assumed the little girl, 8, was with in the other vehicle
  • Nancy had gone to the toilet on her own without telling anyone
  • When Samantha Cameron returned to collect her – after 15 minutes – she was found ‘happily helping’ pub staff
  • Landlord of the family pub leapt to Cameron’s defence describing the PM as a ‘great father and genuine family man’
  • Spokeswoman said Camerons
    take full responsibility for looking after their children and were not
    blaming security officers
  • An internal police review is underway to discover how the little girl came to be left in the pub

17:38 EST, 11 June 2012

|

18:16 EST, 11 June 2012

The little girl had probably only been in the village pub’s toilet for a few minutes.

So when she emerged to find her mother and father and others in their party had vanished from the bar and outside she was naturally a little bemused.

‘Where are my parents?’ the eight-year-old asked staff at The Plough.

David Cameron, pictured holding his daughter Nancy at a wedding in 2007, thought Samantha Cameron had all their children but she thought Nancy was with him

David Cameron, pictured holding his daughter Nancy at a wedding in 2007, thought Samantha Cameron had all their children but she thought Nancy was with him

They were clearly nowhere to be seen and had obviously left without her.

But thankfully the landlord was well
aware where these particular parents might be… because they were David
and Samantha Cameron.

Publican Stephen Hollings yesterday
recounted details of Nancy Cameron’s unfortunate adventure as Downing
Street gave a full version of ‘The Day The Prime Minister and His Wife
Accidentally Left Their Daughter Behind In A Pub’.

Eldest child Nancy became separated
from her parents after visiting the toilets as the family prepared to
leave the village gastropub close to the Prime Minister’s country
retreat, Chequers.

Mr and Mrs Cameron, who were
travelling in separate cars, each believed Nancy was with the other and
were ‘distraught’ to discover she was missing when they reached
Chequers.

Mrs Cameron, 41, who also has
children Arthur, six, and Florence, 22 months, swiftly returned to the
pub and was reunited with her daughter within 15 minutes.

Popular: The Plough pub, where the Camerons are regulars

Popular: The Plough pub, where the Camerons are regulars

The Plough is a short drive away from Chequers

The Plough is a short drive away from Chequers

Yesterday, as the Camerons faced
criticism over the blunder, Mr Hollings described the PM as ‘a great
father and genuine family man’.

Mr Hollings, the former husband of
Carry On actress Barbara Windsor, said the family were regular visitors
to his pub, The Plough at Cadsden, a Buckinghamshire hamlet a few miles
from Chequers, and described the couple and their children as ‘charming’.

He said: ‘The Camerons had been
sitting outside with two other family groups who seemed to be personal
friends. Mr Cameron just had a pint of bitter and then they all left.

‘Then Nancy came out of the toilets
and said something like: “Where are my parents?” We knew who Nancy was
and looked after her until she was collected.’

An insider at the pub added: ‘I know
there were a lot of children there that day but I still don’t quite
understand how they lost their daughter in such a small pub and then
drove off without her. You would have thought the security officers
would do a head count.’

Chillaxing? David Cameron enjoys a pint during a visit to a brewery

Chillaxing? David Cameron enjoys a pint during a visit to a brewery

In a new biography, friends of Mr
Cameron last month told how he enjoyed drinking ‘three or four glasses
of wine’ over lunch at the weekend, while one source told the authors: ‘If there was an Olympic gold medal for “chillaxing”, the Prime Minister
would win it.’

Mr Hollings yesterday denied any suggestion that Mr Cameron had more than a single drink.

A senior Downing Street source said
the incident happened when the three families returned to Chequers in a
convoy of cars. He said: ‘David grabbed five children and Samantha did
the same. It was not a case of each family travelling back in a certain
car.

‘Nancy had wandered away. But she is a
clever girl and revealed herself to the landlady. Nancy had a whale of a
time helping the landlady. They go to the pub regularly and [staff]
know the Camerons well.’

He said the incident happened ‘two or
three months ago’ after the three families had walked the two miles
from Chequers for pre-lunch drinks at the pub.

The spokesman said that was something of a ‘ritual’ each Sunday, before the group would drive back to Chequers for lunch.

As if to illustrate the point, the
family visited the pub again on Sunday, with Mr Cameron spotted carrying
a small child in a backpack-style baby carrier.

Clare Bonnick, 51, said
she was visiting the pub with a walking group when the Camerons and a
couple of other families walked in.

Mrs Bonnick said they arrived on foot but left in three black cars, apparently driven by protection officers.

Police launch inquiry over security lapse

She added: ‘There were about six
adults and at least as many children and they were all getting into
different cars. It was easy to see how they could have lost one of the
children.’

Pub regular Norman Meade, 89, said
he often saw Mr Cameron at The Plough on a Saturday – usually enjoying a
drink with just his police protection officer for company.

Mr Meade added: ‘He’s a decent bloke
who will come over and shake my hand. But how could  you do that? Walk
away and leave  a baby?’

Parents on website Mumsnet also expressed surprise at Mr  Cameron’s forgetfulness.

One wrote: ‘I don’t understand how this could happen when they surely have police protection officers with them.’

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

What’s your name dear ? Where do you live ? Ha ha, very good, is your dad a comedian ?

The buck stops wtih the Camerons. It was their responsiblity and no one elses. Laughably this incompetent runs the country along with other incompetents. Typical to blame others and have no alernative plans. Some security people will now get the blame but we all know who it was…

And this is the man who wants to hand out vouchers for parenting lessons

Who are you looking for young lady? My mummy aand daddy Let us go outside and look there, whats your name? mine’s Jim I am Nancy Do you see your parents? No Lets look in the carpark Do you see their car? No What to do, look this is my car if you show me the way I’ll take you home to them. How long did that take? 2 minutes max 5. Another young girl gone
– Anthony J, Wales, 12/6/2012 1:05
Oh my days Anthony J, Wales, you are so right , that could have happened, that is so scary. Their daughter could have been picked up by anyone. It is down to the parents to look out for their children. Had this happened to a single parent, everyone including Cameron would have been up in arms about it, wouldn’t they?

The pub can now advertise itself as being genuinely child-friendly.

Don’t you think he looks tired….

Oh !!! dear lost a child. lost direction, lost the confidence of his party the electorate and lost his ability to listen to what the Nation is saying. His epitaph will be “Always Lost and now a Loser”.

Love it! Human frailty always improves us

A family man eh? Whatever the poor mite had been doing surely the parents should have checked before leaving the premises. If this is what he does with his own family what hope is there for the rest of us?

they arrived back to the pub where they left their daughter and found her working away behind the Bar , was the little girl pulling pints then ?

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes