6.13 /// Weekend living like a Millionaire...

A train to London, an £80 tux, and a message that everything would be “taken care of.” That’s how a quiet weekend turned into a tour through the rarefied world of UK lottery winners—Somerset House ice shows, a closed‑door dinner at the Tower of London, and a private viewing of the Crown Jewels that felt like time stopped. It was opulent, surreal, and full of small moments that said more about money than the chandeliers ever could.

I walk you through the full arc: the Camelot celebration for the 500th millionaire, the coaches and champagne, and the unexpected tabloid moment when a group photo landed in print with names and winnings attached. Between the glamour came the grit—service that missed the mark, a £31 bar tab for two simple drinks, and a quiet reckoning with what luxury really sells. Along the way I met every kind of winner: couples who kept their jobs and keys to the same front doors, and one rumoured mega‑winner who proved that values outlast windfalls. Frugal, kind, and unimpressed by nonsense prices, he reminded us that money amplifies who you already are.

Beneath the sparkle sits the bigger question: what would you actually change if life handed you the impossible number?  Expect honest stories, a few laughs at my own expense, and a grounded take on wealth, class, and the odd magic of being treated like you belong in rooms most never see.

If this story stuck with you, follow the show, leave a review to help others find it, and share it with a friend who loves a good behind‑the‑velvet‑rope tale. What would be your first move after a big win?

Transcript

Warm Welcome And Setup Chat

Stephen 0:05

Hello, welcome to Infinite Prattle. On this episode, I'm gonna be talking about living the life of a millionaire.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Welcome to Infinite Pratt! Like, share, subscribe, and enjoy the show.

Why Downloads Matter To Mental Health

The Invitation To A Lottery World

Black Tie On A Budget

Somerset House And Champagne Highs

Newspaper Mix‑Up And Awkward Fame

Tower Of London Night And Crown Jewels

Sticker Shock At A Luxury Bar

How Winners Spend Or Don’t

Meeting The Big Jackpot Winner

What Wealth Changes And What Doesn’t

Would You Attend Lottery Parties

Shoutouts, Thanks, And Sign‑Off

Stephen 0:38

Hello, welcome back. I hope you uh having a good time and you're okay. Oh my god, look, you can see in the in in my glasses by light. Let's sort that out. Um is it even possible to solve it in a way that probably not. Probably not. I like have crazy if anyone watching this will also have crazy uh pupils, cross-eyed pupils in my glasses. Let's just take these off. I don't actually need these on anyway. Let's take them off. Anyway. Another stunning and um introduction from myself. Um trying a different mic set up today. I've got the mic up here, uh, next to the next to the camera, without making any difference to the audio, not sure. I think it might I thought it might be more consistent because I'm facing that way. Unless I do this and turn away, which I might. Um we'll see how we'll see how it goes. I'm only using one phone today to record, one camera to record. And the main reason for that is uh well it's twofold really. Uh firstly, um I need to create quite a few episodes, um, so I need to like bang them out quite quickly. So I'm trying to get ahead of the game a little bit. So the two-camera thing and the setup for me uh is a little bit longer in the editing. Uh plus my uh MacBook Pro is having a midlife crisis and uh its memory is not very good at the moment. Basically, what I've done is put too much shit on it, and um it can't really cope with the editing process at the moment, so um I'm trying to be easy on it, and only having one camera uh to kind of render and stuff is helping it. So hopefully gonna sort that. So once I have, I probably will go back to the couple of cameras because it should be able to cope better when I get my desktop set up. Um anyway, um I hope you're well. Thank you for joining me. If it's your first time, welcome. Um Infinite Prattle is where you've landed. I am Steven, and we're approaching 5,000 downloads uh from podcast um um platforms. So I'm really grateful. Um it's non-massive numbers for the amount of time I've been going and how many episodes I've got, but I don't care. As I always say, I don't do this for uh numbers or you know high profile feedback or anything like that or money uh would be probably the driver for most people. Uh I do it because it's good for my mental health, and hopefully people can share a laugh with me uh and maybe learn something occasionally. Um so yeah, so 5,000 l listens is is fast approaching. Uh as well as the YouTube now, we're up to nearly 3,000, I think. So um or close to it, a few hundred off, I think, but like approaching that quickly uh on the on the old YouTube, which is which is fantastic. I think the video podcasting has kind of elevated it slightly. I'm getting mixed views now, I'm getting probably half my views now on YouTube and half more half my downloads elsewhere, so it's really really good. So thank you very much. Anyway, that aside, um, the life of a millionaire. What did I mean by that in the intro? It wasn't clickbait. Uh but I I'm not a millionaire, I just experienced a weekend in the life of a millionaire when I was I don't even know how old I was, 23, 24, um back in 2007. So, bit of context in this. Uh, my cousin's husband years ago won some money on the lottery. Uh unfortunately I don't speak to him now. They they got divorced, and we don't really speak now, which is a shame. He was a nice guy. And after they got divorced, he he just asked me because we st we still spoke, there was no hard feelings or anything like it was between them. Um and he just said to me, like he said, there's there's this lottery dude going on, which I didn't realise like the lottery in the UK, which started in the 90s, not sure what year, probably like mid-90s, uh probably like 95, 96. It might have been earlier than that, because time means nothing anymore to me. Um and yeah, basically this lottery thing that he what he had invited me to uh is one of the things that used to do. They used to regularly throw Camelot, who runs the lottery in the UK, apparently used to throw um kind of like a party kind of get together for people that are in a similar situation that had won won money on the national lottery in the UK. Um and I think the idea of it was is to give them a platform to meet fellow winners, people with money, and kind of networking, but also to like kind of it was almost like a publicity thing as well, sometimes to promote the lottery as well. And the one he invited me to, which I didn't know at the time when he invited me, um he just basically said, get to London on this day, I'll meet you, and like everything will be paid for. And I was like, right, well, I can't not pay for stuff. I had a job at the time, it wasn't a massively well-paid job, but it was good enough. And he was like, No, it's fine, like I'll I'll handle the bills and stuff. And I was like, he says most of the meals and stuff are all included anyway. The lottery's paying for the lottery's paying for the room and all this. I was like, wow, fair enough. Um so I got myself a train ticket and went down to London, and it turned out it was a celebration of I think it was the 500th lottery millionaire winner. So the the celebration of making 500 millionaires, basically. Um which was really cool. It was it was really, really well done. I think we were there for three nights, it was either two or three nights, I can't quite remember, it was it was a while ago, and it was a bit of a whirlwind, if I'm honest with you. Because from when he invited me, I didn't really have a dinner suit, and he basically said, like, you've got to come, like, smart casual for some of the stuff, but there's one night is literally black tie, so you've you've got to have a proper dinner suit. Have you got one? And I was like, I've kind of got one, but it doesn't really fit very well. It was my granddad's, and he left it to me when he died because I was a similar size to him, even though it was a bit a bit too big for me. Um so I ended up going and buying a new one, quite quite cheap, if I'm honest with you. Got a bit of a bargain at 80 quid, but it looked a dog's nuts, you know? It looked really good. And um So got down there, I'd got me got my stuff, you know, young young youngish guy at the time. Uh so how old how would I been? I'd have been like 20. I think I was 24 because it was maybe approaching 24, maybe. It was probably still 23. Um, and it came at a good time for me in my life because I was going through some girl problems kind of thing. Um I'd been living on my own for a couple of years at this point. Um, I was still kind of still getting over my ex-girlfriend, never really had a consistent girlfriend since that. And there was a girl on the scene at the time who was playing with my mind, if I'm honest with you. So a bit of a breakaway and a bit this weekend was just what I needed, even though she texted me most of the weekend um, did my heading. Um sorry, not sorry. It's one of them things, isn't it? When you know you get yourself in these situations. But yeah, we had we had a great we had a great time. We got to this hotel room, and it was a hotel, it was the Howard Swiss Hotel. I don't know if it's still there. I think the building's still there, but I don't think it's the same chain of of um um hoteliers anymore. It was near embankment station, and there was a whole schedule of of things we were gonna do that weekend um programmed in, and it included um a meal, one an evening meal somewhere where the MPs go for their meals and their conferences, and it was a proper like seven or eight course meal, it was very, very fancy. I think that might have been the first day, and then there was a day at Somerset House, which I think was the following day, um, and it was like the UK ice skating team were putting on a show just for us at Somerset House, um, which was which was amazing, it was fantastic. Um I think this happened in the October because I think the the 500th winner had been announced in the August, and I think this was going on in like I can't quite remember, it was either September or the October. I've got pictures somewhere, so I probably could get the date if I if I could find the pictures. Um and yeah, so we had that back, like it was like a soiree kind of thing at Somerset House. Uh it was like a a small buffet, champagne, cocktails, and then the ice skaters put the show on for us, which was amazing. Uh I drank a lot of champagne, and then um we had a big picture together on the ice. Um and I just thought it was for Camelot, you know, Camelot's like archives to say this is what they've done, had this picture. Um didn't know that they were going to send it to the newspapers, etc. And I think it was the Sunday morning, so it they must have sent it off on the Saturday, and the Sunday morning I was getting a text message saying You're in the Daily Mirror, have you in the lottery? And apparently there was a big double page spread of this picture, and then the bottom of the I've still got the cut out, and then the bottom, don't know where it is by the way, I would have I would have found it and got it out. I think it might be in in the loft with some of my files. Um and it basically listed everyone's name and how much they'd won. And it basically said my name and my cousin's ex-husband's name and said the amount that he'd won, as if it was our amount, like a joint shared thing. Um so I was testimony from my saying, no, definitely not. I'm with with my my cousin's ex, he won the lottery, and he invited me down, definitely not won the lottery. Um don't know what to say, that last end of story kind of thing. Um but it was it was a great day, and I must admit, I I was very, very tipsy. And uh that day was drinking a lot of champagne because it was just free-flowing, it was really I I if I was rich, I could drink champagne as my alcohol of choice. Um it was delicious, going down like pop. I must have drank at least a full bottle of this massive bottle of champagne. There was a guy who was walking around serving people, and he was like he was into rock music, and we were chatting about stuff, and he kept coming back to me and serving me. And he he said I had at least a bottle to myself, maybe more, just just from him, and uh other people were serving me as well, so God knows how much I drank. It was a bit ridiculous. So I was quite tipsy, and while I was looking for the toilets at one point, uh I actually staggered staggered across the actual um changing rooms for the ice skaters. Um and I'm not afraid to say I was the I was chatting up some of the some of the girls, I'm not gonna lie. Um you know, they were the you know very very pretty ice skaters. What can what can I say, you know? I was I was I was chancelling my arm and then the the coach came down and told me off for basically speaking to them and uh yeah I don't know what else to say. Um and I went back, I went back to my cousin, and then I can't remember what we did that night, we did something that night as well. May maybe that was the night we went for the the the meal at the MP's place, but I think I think that night we don't I don't think there was anything planned that night. I think um I can't remember. It was just such a blur. It was such a blur. If if if it was only two nights, then that was probably the night we did the um what's it called? London Town of London. Town of London. So Yeah, I think that might have been how it was. I think we went I think I went down on the Friday and we had the Friday there, and Friday was just like an introduction to the place, check-in, the the meal at the MP's place, and then I think the Saturday was Somerset House, and the night time was the black tie at the Tower of London, and then I'm guessing Sunday we went home because I don't remember taking any time off work, it was my weekend off, so um so I think that's what it was, I think that's how it was. Um but yeah, the the the the Tower of London thing was was was was amazing. Uh probably my the highlight for me really. So Somerset House was great, and we were taking in coaches um from the hotels to the locations, even though some of them you probably could have walked to quite easily, but they put coaches on and small minibuses for us. And then the Tower of London one, they had a um uh Queen Elizabeth II impersonator, weirdly, I think because we were going to the Tower of London, and um yeah, the she was on the coach, it was a bit was a bit strange. I think the other coach had a different impersonator, maybe Charles or someone. Um but we got to the Tower of London and it was it was closed to the public, and apparently they open it up sometimes for um private events, so there's like a like a big long gallery kind of thing that they use. Um don't know what it was used for historically, but it was very, very fancy, and we had a meal there. I can't remember what we had, I just remember the food was always nice, and there was uh like a magician walking around doing tricks, and there was at these events there was like little speeches and stuff happening on like on behalf of the lottery and stuff, and and uh there was like a Michael Boobley-esque kind of singer, you know, singing the old swing ballads and and and like Frank Sinatra style style kind of ballads and and music. It was it was really lovely. Uh and we also had, which apparently is like reserved for like dignitaries, but we had a private showing of the the crown jewels, um, which is which is super unusual, uh, and probably one of the highlights of my life, really. And that's that sounds weird, but like it's something that people don't get. Like, they don't normally go see the crown jewels, you you're hurried in, ushered round. I think there might be actually like a conveyor belt on the floor that actually moves you, so you don't get a chance to actually linger. Um I might be making that up, but I think that's how it works. Um but that night we went in, we were free to they didn't keep us in there very long. I will I will say that we were still time restricted, but we were free to walk around and we could stand and look at the crown jewels, and and it was quite it was quite a thing, to be honest. I was I'm a royalist, I like the royal family, and and yeah, it was quite a thing to be able to do that. Um entering entering almost this vault where where all this illustrious um priceless, let's face it, stuff's kept. And um yeah, it was such such a an experience that was. Um Yeah, and say everything was free. Everything was free. The only thing we had to pay for while we were there was like extra stuff in the hotel, so anything we wanted extra. So if we wanted extra stuff at breakfast, we had to pay for it, but we got basic stuff free, uh, include like including them in the room. Um but if we wanted any extra stuff that was on top. Um and obviously anything we wanted like sundry is just like you know, if if we wanted to bottle a pot from the shop, obviously we couldn't submit a an expenses expenses form. Um but yeah, like that all food and stuff at the the MPs thing. I can't remember what that place was called. Um but that was that was very fancy and it was proper waiter service. And say it was like a seven or eight quarts meal. Um I'd never really had like a meal like that where you get little tiny tiny dishes, all super rich and super tasty, and I was thinking I'm gonna be starving, I'm gonna end up going to McDonald's or something. Um but it was incredibly filling because it was so rich. And I think it was like maybe the Saturday night after after the after the um Tower of London experience, we went back to the hotels, dropped off at the hotels, um, and we we we kind of just went to the bar, and the bar was very expensive, was very, very expensive. And I said to I said, I said to said to my cousins cousins ex, I said, listen, you've paid for everything, like you wouldn't let me buy anything if it was lunchtime and stuff, like we didn't get lunch included. So he he was buying like snacks and sandwiches and and I think we had a Mac McDonald's one day, uh, and he wouldn't let me buy anything. I said, listen, you can't be buying everything, at least let me pay for a couple of drinks. And I had£20 on my pocket. It was not enough at the bar in this hotel. Uh I was shocked, I was absolutely shocked. I was like, went to the bar, he wanted I think I think I I was buying like a vodka and coke, he wanted a single brandy. Um because they did nice brandy. So I just said to the guy, like, you know, a coke, vodka, small you know, the little small stubby glass bottles you get in pubs and and uh nightclubs, and this this vodka this um brandy that he wanted. And a lot of people in Nota, it was like a Howard Swiss Hotel, a lot of the staff there were were French. I would premise this, it was the rudest terrible, most terrible place I've ever stayed. Like we had a couple of complaints, and even though we weren't paying, they were ignorant. The guy on the bar was terrible, people on reception were horrible. The only people who were nice with were the room cleaners, they couldn't do enough for you, and they were lovely. Genuinely, all the other staff needed extreme lessons in customer service. They were all appalling. Not not less this person on this bar this night. So I ordered these drinks, and I thought he'd said£13 something, which at the time would have been still dear for what I'd ordered at 2007 prices in a normal pub. Um but I handed over this£20 note and he handed it back to me and said no. And I kept saying he thought he was saying£13, and I was like, yes,£20, as if say, Why are you being an idiot? This I'm giving you the enough money. And then he turned like the little thing of the till round and it said£31 something, and I was like, oh, that's quite expensive. So apparently my vodka and Coke was something ridiculous, like£13. And my cousin's ex brandy was like like£18.50 or something stupid like that for a one shot of Brandy. So embarrassingly enough, I begged him to let me buy these drinks, and I had to walk back to him and go, Can I borrow, can I borrow a tenner? Because I had a couple of quid in my pocket and change, and he was like, Wow, I was like, that rouse just come to£31. He was like, What the hell? Because he was just putting it on his room, he hadn't actually seen the price of anything, he was just putting everything in his room, and I think he was thinking then, Christ, like my barbill's gonna be big. Um yeah, so we I was I was good he had to give me a tenner. Um but as far as the people that were there, they were all pleasant enough. There was there was a couple that won the lottery and and basically not quit their jobs, like power to you if you've got a job that you love. Um, but they they not moved house, they not quit their job. And they the almost gonna be cost of me as if a little bit boring, if I'm honest with you. They hadn't really done anything with the money, and I was just like, like live a little bit, like go on some more holidays, like you know, live your dream, but they seem quite content, which I almost wanted to say, give me the money. It's not that I'm not content in life, but I could do so much more if I had that money. Um But then I would say the nicest person there was this was this guy who he was just just down to earth, he was a cockney. I can't more towards Essex way, but I don't want to offend any people in London. Um but he was more down towards Essex, I think, but he was like on the verge of Essex and and and London, like somewhere like Ilford-Romford kind of area, I would say. Um not sure that he was from, but like kind of that area kind of thing. And he was lovely, really, really down to worth. And the whole weekend we were there, there was a rumour that some that the person that had won the biggest Jack Bantal lottery, which I think at the time was like 80 million or something like that, um, was on that kind of party invitation list, and everyone was questioning it. And I must admit I I'd got some new clothes and wanted to go down and look fancy, and yeah, didn't want to look like shoddy or anything. And people kept asking me, especially when I wore my dinner suit, if it was me, because they're like, Oh my god, this dinner suit looks super expensive, I must think it was 80 quid, and they were all thinking I'd gone to some design addict tailor made, which kudos to the to the people that made it to make it look that expensive. Thank you very much. Like, I was getting loads of compliments, and my my my my cousin's actually said to me, Everyone thinks it's you or and or us that have won that big massive jackpot. And I was like, seriously, they were like, Yeah, and um how's Oh that's really cool. So I just went with it. So when any anyone asked me a question, I didn't deny it. And it was a I was having a good time with it to be fair. I thought if they want to believe that, they can believe it. I wasn't like misleading them to saying yes, I have won it, but when they when they asked me about it, I was like, Oh, I don't like to talk about money, thank you. And th th that that was fuel and fueling the fire. So it was good a bit of fun, really. Um but it turns out that this guy that was really down to worth and probably the nicest person there, just really, really friendly. Uh he told us that uh it was him. And I thought, well, it just goes to show they say money changes you, and he was still of the ill, we were chatting about the expensive things, like he was there when I bought them drinks, and he was like, that's ridiculous. Like playing nearly 20 quid for a shot of brandy. And uh he he was he was very frugal and he he'd been brought up working class and he still had that ethos, even though he had like 80 million pounds in the bank, or whatever it was, um 75 million or something like that, I don't know. Uh whatever the whatever the Jack was a huge japon. Whatever it was, he he was still frugal and he he he said he'd bought a nice house and bought a nice car and stuff like that, but he said he wasn't like going over the top when you know when he went out. If something was in his eyes too expensive, even though he knew he could more than afford it, he didn't want to buy into that culture of I've got the money so I'll pay it. He still was of the mind of no, that's not what an average person could afford, so I'm not paying it. And I was I was like, fair play to you, man. But I think having got a little bit older and worked as long as I have now, I'm probably probably now the age he was back then, so I would say he was probably like in his early to mid-40s, and I I think I'd be the same to a degree, like I wouldn't want to spend excessively on stuff just because I have the money. Um yeah, it was but it was it was such an experience, it was such a such a great weekend. I'm sad that I don't speak to him anymore. Um he gave me that experience, and it was don't think it was anyone's fault. Sometimes you know families break down a little bit like that, and then people drift apart. Um I I have no bad feelings towards him. Um I don't know why we kind of stopped talking kind of thing. Um maybe it was just the the whole thing with um you know um the the divorce, maybe, yeah. I'm I was trying to think. I don't think there was anything I did. I hope not. Um but yeah, it was just a lovely weekend, loads of happy, fun memories, got a few random pictures, had experiences that I wouldn't have had anywhere else, and uh yeah, just just a really, really good time. So yeah. That's I'm gonna leave it there. I don't think there's anything else to say. Um Yeah. What would you do if you won the lottery? I think I've spoken about this before on the show. Um I should really check. I never do, do I? You know me by now. You know me by now. Um yeah, I think that um it's one of them things would you change? Would you stay the same? Would you attend these lottery things? I'm getting guessing they probably still do them. I'm not sure. Um would you would you attend if it was still a thing, would you want to go and hang out with other people that have won the lottery? I don't know whether I would. I don't know. It was partly pretentious and partly nice. Um I don't know. Oh, by the way, the heart I'm wearing today is uh is is Nigel and Marmalade. Uh I'm not sure I've w I don't think I've worn this one before. This is also a YouTube channel. Uh go and check them out. I can't remember the chap's name, so just just Google Nigel and Marmalade and you'll find it. But there's a little videos, they're a bit weird and a bit out there, but they're hilarious. Very much my my uh kind of uh of humour, really. Um so yeah, go go check that out. I feel like I'm promoting YouTubers recently, because on the last one I think I was wearing my ghost theory hat, so um yeah. Well, thank you very much for listening anyway. I hope you've enjoyed that episode with me reminiscing about my time attending a Camelot lottery party for lottery winners. Um I'm not a millionaire. I was trying to find the picture online actually, and trying to find that story online. So I I assume that it's 2007-ish, just because of what was going on in my life at the time. So um yeah. Um yeah, that's it. I don't know what else to say. So I'm gonna leave it there. I'm gonna shut up, I ramble, I'm prattling, you know. But thank you very much for listening. Uh like and subscribe if you want to, no pressure, it just helps out, you know, algorithms, you know. Um yeah, but I'll I'll uh I'll speak to you again on the next episode. So yeah, take care of yourselves and remember to keep on prattling.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Thanks for listening to Infinite Prattle with your host Steven. Follow me on social networks at infinite prattle and don't forget to subscribe. Thanks very much.