Ephraim Hardcastle
THE advertised post of demi chef de partie at Buckingham Palace (salary £21,000, plus accommodation) isn’t all it seems. A source explains: ‘There’s only been one state banquet in 18 months. The army of royal chefs are mostly employed feeding the 400-plus staff. Those who want to hone their skills at royal tables are keener on getting into the smaller team at Clarence House. Charles entertains more, demands more – and pays more.’
FOR President Donald Trump to be accorded a full state visit it’s desirable for a senior royal to visit the US. When our Government needed to get on the right side of China’s President Xi Jinping in 2015 they despatched Prince William, who smoothed the way for Xi’s state visit. Why not send him again? My source says: ‘There’s a small fly in the ointment. Trump said Kate “only had herself to blame” for the topless shots taken of her by paparazzi in France six years ago, for which she recently won damages of £88,000 in a French court.’
THE Godfather star Al Pacino, 78, breaks into a corny 1950s song, Lucky Son Of A Gun, during an interview. Small wonder. His Argentinian firecracker consort, Lucila Sola, pictured with him, is 36 years his junior.
WHILE Speaker John Bercow declares that President Trump won’t be allowed to speak in Westminster Hall, his Lords opposite number, Norman Fowler, is being pressed to make the Royal Gallery available. Bumptious Bercow has no jurisdiction there. But why doesn’t Theresa May copy Tony Blair’s trick? When George W Bush made a state visit here, in 2003, he gave his big speech at the Banqueting House in Whitehall. By handpicking MPs, peers and grandees for his audience, wily Blair ensured a smooth ride for his controversial friend and Iraq War crony.
NOW Princess Eugenie and fiance Jack Brooksbank have moved into Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace, Harry and Meghan won’t remain in the smaller Nottingham Cottage, as I predicted on February 1. They’ll move into 21-room Apartment 1 when it’s renovated and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester move out. H&M will have an inter-connecting door to the next-door Cambridges. ‘Harry was very close to William and Kate was happy enough in herself to take on Harry when she married William,’ explains my source. ‘How Meghan will react to this togetherness is another question.’
LABOUR MP Chuka Umunna is thought by colleagues to be ‘on manoeuvres’ – presenting himself as popular alternative to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Ex-Labour minister Alan Johnson once agreed to support Umunna at an election meeting. After extolling his virtues extravagantly, Johnson expected to be thanked. Instead Umunna told him, ‘It’s pronounced Chooka, not Chucka.’ A less than impressed Johnson is said to have replied: ‘Well, you can Chucka off.’