The Tory leader said they were 'very surprised' when the images, which show her draped over sofas and rolling on the floor with a kitten, were published this weekend. As it emerged his wife is expecting their fourth baby, Mr Cameron said today: 'She did these pictures a long time ago in connection with her business, I think back in 1996 or 1997. 'But we knew one day someone might remember them. We were hoping they would never appear, but they have. These things happen.' Here is AMANDA PLATELL on how the risqué fashion shoot will have left the Tory old guard spluttering. The only thing worse for a modern politician than a skeleton falling out of the cupboard is embarrassing pictures tumbling out of an attic and on to the front pages. When I was media adviser to the Tories under William Hague, I used to dread a call from a Fleet Street newsdesk saying: 'We've found some rather interesting pictures. . .' So spare a thought for Tory High Command this weekend, when they learned that some old photos of Samantha Cameron had come to light that gave - how can I put this politely? - a rather revealing glimpse into her past. Short cut: Samantha adopts a somewhat daring pose In one of the pictures, taken 12 years ago, Sam is perched on the edge of the sofa with her legs arranged in a provocative pose that will doubtless necessitate smelling salts in some of the stuffier Home Counties country clubs. In another, her white dress is so daringly short that it's safe to say she's not wearing Bridget Jones style bloomers. Nurse! Come quick! I think Major Tufton has just expired! Yes, you can just imagine the tension at the Camerons' breakfast table yesterday as the couple tried to assess the impact of Sam's youthful modelling shots, which were discovered in an Isle of Wight attic by the stylist who organised them. As all politicians know - and SamCam has now discovered - the past can come back to bite you in quite unexpected ways. But in this case, I'd call it a love bite. Lacy lady: This daring black dress, split to the thigh, shows off Samantha¿s enviable long legs Samantha can rest easy - for not only does she look utterly gorgeous in the photographs, but her reputation is uncompromised. Indeed, she looks so alluring that I can't help but wonder whether their 'discovery', so close to the election, might not itself be part of some spin operation to boost the profile of the Tories' new 'secret weapon'. Much has been made of Samantha's rather 'edgy' past as an art student at the University of the West of England, where she befriended a club DJ named Tricky and lived in one of the less salubrious parts of Bristol. You'd never guess it from these pictures, taken just a few years later, in which she's already every inch the Posh Totty pin-up, as befitting the daughter of a landed baronet and wife of a City PR man. She and David married in 1996 - and these pictures were taken shortly afterwards when she was already working at the upmarket stationers, Smythson, and he was director of corporate affairs at Carlton Communications and an aspiring MP. Playful: Dressed in sheepskin, Samantha lies on the floor cuddling a black kitten They were done as a favour for a designer friend of hers, whose creations she is wearing, and were styled by fashion writer Alison Jane Reid, who has just unearthed the forgotten pictures in a box of slides at her home. 'They were taken in 1997 or 1998, when Samantha was totally unknown,' recalls Ms Reid. 'There isn't a great deal I remember about the day - it was just a favour for a friend of a friend - but I do remember the model very well. 'I was told she was the wife of an upand- coming Tory and we needed to be careful how we dressed her. 'She was very clear that she didn't want to be photographed in an inappropriate way. She simply didn't want to look too sexy.' The resulting look is more flirtatious than outright raunchy - think Sharon Maughan in her Gold Blend coffee advert days - with hair piled high and outfits that are part dinner party minx, part Boden Barbie. And those legs. . .dear God, those legs! Thoroughbred filly that she is, Sam's are a fine-fetlocked pair that would not look out of place passing the Cheltenham finishing post. Jealous? Moi? You bet. Thigh high: Looking glamorous in a red shift dress We women who look on in envy and weep (and I suspect there will be millions of us) will have to take a scrap of comfort from the pose of a 26-year-old Samantha in a gold-andblack floral ensemble that would need only the addition of a tasselled drawstring to turn into a rather splendid pair of hotel curtains. Indeed, if I had one criticism of SamCam the supermodel, it's that, although she looks sweetly sexy in the pictures, she is far more beautiful in real life. As for the political fallout, well she's not the first Tory leader's wife to have a background in modelling. Sandra Howard was one of the most successful models of the Sixties, appearing on the cover of U.S. Vogue two months in a row, before marrying Michael in 1975. It never did him any harm. Besides, when it comes to embarrassing photos from the past, I suspect Bullingdon Dave's got more than enough of his own to worry about.Candid Cameron: Found in an attic, SamCam's rather risqué fashion shoot (that'll leave the Tory old guard spluttering!)
David Cameron today admitted he and his wife had hoped racy pictures of her modelling more than a decade ago would never come to light.
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