Ephraim Hardcastle
THE eye-opening Diana: In Her Own Words TV documentary raises doubts about Prince Charles’s kingship. A former senior courtier says: ‘If William isn’t made king there may not be a throne for him to inherit. The people might not accept Charles. Neither might politicians if he tries to tinker with the constitution. You must remember that the generation which always supported the monarchy deferentially is well on the way out now.’ Another royal source points out: ‘Charles giving way to William might help he and Camilla finally to be forgiven by those who still grieve for Diana.’
DIANA’S ex- butler Paul Burrell, pictured, currently in Australia – ‘giving etiquette lessons,’ if you please – informs locals that Prince Harry’s wedding will be next year, adding: ‘And two more babies for William and Kate. There will be a gap between Charlotte and George – not twins, two separate babies – later on.’ When persona non grata Burrell, 59, tires of teaching etiquette (is it good manners to discuss publicly one’s former employers?) might he give astrology a go?
PRIOR to gay playwright Joe Orton being bludgeoned to death by his lover, Kenneth Halliwell, 50 years ago today, writer and theatrical historian Michael Thornton took a telephone call from the latter. Impersonating Orton, he asked why ‘Kenneth’ hadn’t been invited to a party Thornton was attending. Afterwards Orton himself called, telling Thornton, ‘That was Kenneth who called you’ and he was ‘off his rocker all over again’. Noting that Orton was murdered a few hours later, Thornton subsequently wrote: ‘I shall wonder till the day I die whether it was I who inadvertently triggered one of the most sensational and macabre murders of modern times.’
WRITER Kathy Lette, 58, who recently split from human rights barrister husband Geoffrey Robertson, 70, after 27 years, says she was alarmed to discover that their 25-year-old son, Jules, was dating a woman more than 20 years his senior. She recalls: ‘I opened the door to stare into a visage nearly as lined as my own. Sadly, just when I’d warmed to the idea of their union, their HMS Relationship got a touch of the Titanics and hit the rocks.’
YOUNG royals give security officials a headache with their use of social media. They aren’t always keen on having to change accounts and reset passwords when IT experts deem this desirable. When they are apart, Prince Harry talks to his girlfriend, Meghan Markle, via Skype. He even did so when visiting Caribbean isles on his grandmother’s behalf in a Royal Navy frigate.
NEWSNIGHT’S Evan Davis remarks to fertility pioneer Professor Robert Winston over unequally distributed NHS-funded IVF treatment: ‘Robert Winston, you would argue that there shouldn’t be a postcode lottery and the NHS should pay.’ Lord Winston, looking irked: ‘Well, thank you for putting my argument for me.’ Davis appears to think guests are there to hear his opinions, not vice versa.