Sarah Brown seeks to impress at Downing Street dinner

Sarah Brown will host a dinner at Number Ten tonight for the partners of the G20 summit leaders, among them, of course, Michelle Obama (left). Because neither Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina nor Angela Merkel of Germany are bringing their husbands, it will be an all-women affair.

Keen to keep the ladies amused, the Prime Minister’s wife has enlisted the support of a number of ‘celebrity’ guests - or court jesters as they were known in medieval times – to help the evening go with a bang.

One of these is Ruth Jones (right), star and writer of the hit BBC comedy drama Gavin & Stacey. However, Jones will not be seated alongside the First Lady. That honour has gone to J. K. Rowling, the multi-millionaire author of the Harry Potter books, and Kelly Holmes, the double Olympic gold medalist.

One diner likely to be kept at arms length is Naomi Campbell, the supermodel who has over the years battled with anger-management issues and was arrested and charged with assault last year after a fracas at Heathrow airport.

Others guests include Martha Lane Fox, the 36-year-old founder of the travel website lastminute.com, Dame Tanni Grey-Thomson, the Paralympic gold medalist, Gurinder Chadha, the film director whose movies include Bend It Like Beckham, and Emma Freud, the broadcaster and wife of the film director Richard Curtis.

The evening’s fare, which will also be served at a Gordon Brown-hosted dinner for the G20 leaders in another Downing Street dining room, has been prepared by Jamie Oliver, and will feature seasonal produce including Welsh lamb, Jersey Royal new potatoes and asparagus from Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly. The wine list is expected to include the award-winning Nyetimber sparkling wine produced in West Sussex.

If the menu sounds a little dull, this is because the Browns were keen to avoid accusations of extravagance after leaders at the G8 meeting in Japan last July were served a lavish eight-course meal with 18 separate dishes, including caviar and Kyoto beef.