Ephraim Hardcastle

WHY the haste to get royal staff to London for an important announcement, reported exclusively by the Mail and prompting overnight speculation about Prince Philip? The PM, Theresa May, and the Queen discussed the retirement of Philip, 95, from royal duties during their audience for the dissolution of Parliament on Tuesday. Should it be announced after the general election – or yesterday, during local elections? Opting for yesterday – with broadcasters observing a moratorium on local election coverage – proved to be astute. Philip’s retirement did not impinge on the political debate and was given handsome play on TV and radio. WHEN David Cameron met the Queen in 2015 to discuss the dissolution of Parliament, a courtier said: ‘We look forward to seeing you again in a few weeks, Prime Minister.’ Presuming this meant ‘after you’ve won the election’, Cameron thanked the official. Stony-faced, the flunkey explained that, as PM, he was obliged to come back before polling day, ‘if only to return the seals of office’. BRAD Pitt isn’t the only admirer of Angelina Jolie who enjoyed a drink. A thirsty previous lover, actor Billy Bob Thornton, pictured with her, admitted he was plastered throughout the filming of his bestknown movie, Bad Santa. Jolie’s No 1 British admirer, exforeign secretary William (now Lord) Hague, 56, boasted of drinking 14 pints of beer a day in his youth. Might the lovely if intensely self-absorbed Angelina, 41, encourage many of us to order up a cocktail or two? A SENIOR court source notices a major (in royal terms) faux pas in next week’s BBC production of King Charles III: The late Tim Pigott-Smith, playing Prince Charles, is seen wearing a double-breasted suit with flaps over the jacket pockets. Flaps!? Charles orders his bespoke suits sans flaps so he can effortlessly thrust his hands into the pockets. Prince Philip, who avoids this habit by clasping his hands behind his back, has long given up trying to wean his eldest son off this slovenly practice. FURTHER to my note about Radio 4’s birdsong recording, ex-BBC correspondent Michael Cole, 73, remembers hearing a poignant, 1942 Corporation broadcast of nightingales that was interrupted by Wellington and Lancaster bombers flying overhead en route to Mannheim, Germany. An engineer, realising the live programme might warn listening Nazi spies of the impending attack, stopped the recording but some of it survives. On the first side, the 197 outgoing bombers are heard; on the second, the 186 that came home. TODAY the Badminton Horse Trials, attracting around 200,000 spectators annually, opens at the Duke of Beaufort’s impressive Gloucestershire estate. With the Duchess of Cornwall handing out prizes, tweedy folk enthuse: ‘What’s not to like?’ Yet metropolitan news-broadcasting tsars snub the event. They prefer to ‘get down’ with the often drug-addled youth at the nearby (and smaller) Glastonbury pop festival in June.