Ephraim Hardcastle
THE Duchess of Cambridge made her debut appearance in the Royal Box as Wimbledon patron yesterday. She succeeds the Queen, who held the post for 64 years but watched the tournament at the All England Club only four times. Tennis fan Kate, to the relief of the club, is likely to be a regular attendee. But she will have to play second fiddle to its president, the Duke of Kent, 81. The old codger is determined to hold on to his role of presenting the trophies at the end of each racquet-fest.
A CRIMINAL conviction for harassment in January prompted ITV to pull Rory McGrath, 61, from the final episode of reality TV show Sugar Free Farm. Yet the BBC appears to have no problem with him. He’ll be presenting a new documentary about the Cornish language on Radio 4 on Friday. Front Row presenter Mark Lawson was sacked for ‘bullying’ but was never even told who his accusers were. Is that the whiff of inconsistency I smell?
PRINCE Charles has returned from Canada after being made an Extraordinary Companion of the Order of Canada. Might the Queen have nudged prime minister Justin Trudeau into giving him the gong? Her post as head of the Commonwealth is not hereditary, and when Charles becomes king her replacement will be chosen by Commonwealth leaders. Royal officials have been feverishly lobbying Trudeau to ensure Charles succeeds her in the role.
HENRY Blofeld, 77, pictured, retiring from the BBC’s Test Match Special, tells Radio Times that he doesn’t think he’d be offered work by the modern BBC, adding: ‘If I came along now, what would people think of me? They might take a view and think, this chap’s not right at all. I’ve got a voice now that I think is against me, but because of long usage, I’m there.’ After 45 years, Blowers, plummy voice and all, pulls up stumps in September.
PLUGGING his book on the Indian Kohi-noor diamond in Spear’s magazine, historian William Dalrymple puts both feet in it by declaring: ‘We go there [India] talking of ties of brotherhood forged by the Raj, and the Indians are rather surprised. Like the Germans turning up in Israel and expecting a warm embrace.’
EARNEST caterwauler Billy Bragg, 59, recalls meeting the Queen at the reopening of the Royal Festival Hall in 2007, saying: ‘She came along the line – and when she got to me, she gave me a look that said, “What the **** are you doing here?” It was brilliant. She totally got me.’ What is he on?
GABBY Australian novelist Kathy Lette, 58, considered bringing her autistic son Holby City actor Jules Robertson, 26, to a brothel to lose his virginity. ‘But when I saw a story about a man who was arrested for looking for a prostitute for his son with special needs, I thought, “Gosh – that could have been me!” And that’s what gave me the idea for my new book, where a middle-class mum gets arrested for kerb-crawling.’