Ephraim Hardcastle
TODAY Prince Henrik of Denmark is laid to rest. Born in France in 1934 and married to Margrethe (now Queen) since 1967, he never forgot his aristocratic past. When his eldest son was made crown prince in 2002 he returned to France. He remained there until 2005, when his wife made him prince consort, thus elevating him above his son. Our own Prince Philip had to renounce his Greek and Danish titles before marrying and didn’t become a prince of the United Kingdom until 1957. This meant Princess Elizabeth, heiress presumptive, became Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh on marriage instead of Princess Philippos of Greece and Denmark. RADIO 5 Live presenter Danny Baker, 60, mocks the BBC for kowtowing to showbiz types during live TV coverage of the Baftas, remarking: ‘They’re people in the film game, not the House of Lords. Always amusing that actors who in interviews claim to have “written” or “ad-libbed” entire scenes in movies cannot coherently get through a one-minute acceptance speech without sounding like babies.’ Too harsh, surely. DIRECTOR Steven Soderbergh chose Claire Foy, 33, pictured, to play an unhinged woman in his upcoming thriller Unsane. What convinced him was her acceptance speech at the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Awards. The actress, who portrayed the Queen in the Netflix series The Crown, says: ‘Someone told me he watched my acceptance speech and was like, “She seems mental! She could play the part”. That’s obviously how I come across. So that’s good.’ THE BBC’s indignant coverage of the Oxfam sex scandal amuses corporation veterans. Professor Jean Seaton, the BBC’s official historian, said in her 2015 book Pinkoes And Traitors that Baron Howard, BBC chairman from 1980 to 1983, took a prostitute on to the Orient Express train and claimed the cost back on his expenses. Another senior BBC executive who spanked female secretaries was given a grand new job in New York with a pay rise when some of them complained. ANNETTE Bening, 59, joined fellow actresses at the Baftas by wearing black, acknowledging the current sexual harassment hysteria. Is she sure her once-lecherous husband of 25 years, Warren Beatty, now 80, has nothing to apologise for? Actress Miriam Margolyes, 76, recalls meeting him in his trailer during production of his 1981 movie Reds: ‘He looked me up and down and said, “Do you ****?” ’ When Ms Margolyes said she was a lesbian, the rascal replied: ‘Can I watch?’ PRINCESS Michael of Kent, 73, recalls sleeping under the stars on her first safari in Mozambique: ‘I was alone with my father but I had difficulty sleeping, due to the constant coughing coming from the direction of his tent. I woke to a loud bang and jerked upright to see my father on one knee with his rifle aiming in my direction. I then saw the body of a lioness, an old lady. It was the lioness who had “coughed” all night, wandering around me!’ Nervous about eating the frightening Marie Christine, no doubt.