Sunday lunch at the Malta Polo Club for that inseparable foursome, the Prime Minister and Mrs Muscat, and the Tourism Minister and Mrs Zammit Lewis

After a week washed through with scandal, the prime minister and the Spouse of the Prime Minister made a point of showing the middle-class switchers at Chukkas – the restaurant at the Marsa Polo Club – how cool and relaxed they are by having lunch there today with Elena Zammit Lewis nee Bagollu and her husband the Tourism Minister (Edward).

They do this all the time – get advice from the networked Mrs Zammit Lewis on where they are most likely to be seen by middle-class switcher types and assorted tal-pepe, and go there for lunch on Sunday.

That’s Mrs Zammit Lewis sitting opposite the prime minister and next to the Spouse of the Prime Minister, with their backs to the camera. Her husband is out of the shot, but his ministerial Audi IQZ504, which is always arrogantly parked in some pedestrian zone near his office, was left waiting, chauffeur and all, outside Chukkas until at least 5pm.

The relationship between these four is really quite interesting in its user-greed. Mrs Muscat uses Mrs Zammit Lewis for her network of contacts, introductions and advice on where to be seen and not be seen, while Mrs Zammit Lewis uses Mrs Muscat for the advancement of her husband’s political career.

Mrs Zammit Lewis would never have chosen Mrs Muscat as a friend in a million lifetimes – though admittedly, she did choose Edward Zammit Lewis as a husband, which says a lot.

You just know that it’s all for show – when you’ve been busting your guts ‘running the country’ all week and dealing with annoying people and scandals, never seeing the inside of your home except for bedtime, the last thing you want to do is spend half your Sunday inside a jam-packed restaurant with another couple you see far too much of already.

In fact, the prime minister appears to have fallen asleep at table. It must be all the excitement of listening to Mrs Muscat and Mrs Zammit Lewis try to keep a conversation going about handbags and intrigue in their children’s year at San Anton School.