Edward Stourton profiles Samantha Cameron. There's been debate this week about the degree to which her views influence government policy. But what do we actually know about the Prime Minister's wife?

The daughter of a baronet with a family estate in Lincolnshire, Samantha Cameron was born Samantha Sheffield. She grew up in Oxfordshire but moved to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where she took her A' Levels before studying Art at Camberwell College and Bristol Polytechnic.

She met David Cameron through his sister - a close schoolfriend - and they married the same year that she started her career at the British luxury accessories brand, Smythson. She has been credited with reinventing the brand by introducing a popular line of handbags.

Three years into her role as Prime Minister's wife, how is she handling life in Number 10?