Now Cameron crony is handed a royal honour
DAVID CAmeron’s use of his resignation honours to dish out gongs to his cronies caused an outcry last year. I can reveal that the peerage handed to the former Prime minister’s 40-year-old director of operations, Liz sugg, was, however, merely an hors d’oeuvre. For Lady sugg of Coldharbour, as she is styled, has now been given an even more prestigious honour. she has been appointed a Baroness-in-Waiting to the Queen. The role will involve her taking on duties such as meeting VIPs on behalf of the Queen or representing Her majesty at funerals and memorial services.
‘It’s not clear exactly what Liz has done to deserve such an honour,’ says one friend, a little unkindly. ‘Dave will have put in a good word for her. He’s still well regarded at the Palace.’
A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirms that Hm received Lady sugg ‘upon assuming her appointment as a Baroness-in-Waiting’.
A royal source tells me the Queen approved her appointment ‘on ministerial advice’.
surrey-born Liz was one of Cameron’s longest- serving aides. When she was handed a peerage, critics pointed out that such a figure would, in the past, have had to make do with an mBe at best.
Don’t, however, expect Liz to make a song and dance about her new honour. When she attended a service for order of the British empire medal hold- ers at st Paul’s Cathedral in may, she seemed to cover hers up shyly when she was spotted by a photographer.
That order was conferred on her in Cameron’s 2015 Dissolution Honours. she was less shy about showing off the lizard tattoo on her ankle. Her old boss’s wife, samantha, has a dolphin inked on her heel.
WHEN Prince Charles wed Camilla, they had to hold the civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall because they were both divorcees. If Prince Harry weds Meghan Markle, also a divorcee, they could tie the knot at Charles’s Scottish stately home, Dumfries House. ‘Have you ever considered Dumfries House as the destination for your magical, dream wedding?’ its Facebook page gushes. ‘Our fantastic hospitality staff make sure your day runs without a hitch.’