Princess Michael of Kent, Cherie Blair and MP Priti Patel will join a stellar line up of thinkers and influencers from the worlds of history, politics art and film at the Cliveden Literary Festival this year.

The festival will return for its second year from September 29 to 30 in the exquisite surroundings of the Italianate Grade I listed Cliveden House.

Ever since 1666, the house has also been known for its literary salon, helping to inspire writers from Alexander Pope and George Bernard Shaw, Jonathan Swift and Lord Tennyson to Sir Winston Churchill.

The Cliveden Literary Festival aims to evoke the spirit of the great writers and potentates who stayed there and continue the tradition of the house as a sanctuary for lovers of literature.

The festival’s themes – politics and scandal; the influence of brilliant women; history in the movies and on TV; art and architecture; espionage, and the shadow of war – reflect Cliveden’s own story as a political and literary salon, a status it has kept into the 21st century.

This year’s festival will feature talks from author Sir Antony Beevor - in conversation with novelist and former Serviceman Allan Mallinson - and journalist Sarah Vine.

They will be joined by the likes of Dr Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and MP Michael Gove. For tickets and information, go to www.clivedenliteraryfestival.com.