Ephraim Hardcastle
THE rent on Harry and Meghan’s Frogmore Cottage hasn’t been disclosed, but the couple – who aspire to be self-sufficient – might have saved themselves a substantial sum by accepting a novel offer from the Royal Family. During negotiations, HM’s team suggested the Sussexes might, instead of retaining Frogmore, avail themselves of a suite of rooms at Windsor Castle during future visits from Canada. Harry, conditioned from birth to the castle’s high ceilings, draughty corridors and historic plumbing, didn’t immediately rule it out. But Meghan wasn’t keen.
DOES the Queen share Boris’s enthusiasm for shifting the House of Lords to York? In 2005, when Ascot racecourse closed for refurbishment, she bypassed nearby Sandown and Epsom and took Royal Ascot to York. The six-furlong Diamond Jubilee Stakes might be more fun than the State Opening but, in racing parlance, HM sees York as a runner.
DAVID Dimbleby lambasts BBC current affairs coverage on Newsnight, saying: ‘Is it a bit ponderous, a bit pompous? I think it is. I think it needs a radical rethink and reform.’ Would Dimbo be as critical if he hadn’t vacated the Question Time chair 13 months ago after almost 25 years?
HARRY’S abdicationlike departure from royal duties will not be portrayed in future episodes of The Crown, according to Gillian Anderson, pictured, love interest of the show’s creator, Peter Morgan. Gillian, who will play Margaret Thatcher in future episodes, says the Netflix series will cease before it reaches the Meghan-Harry era. ‘It won’t actually go that far,’ she tells the BBC. ‘The Crown is going to be finished a long time before today.’
FORMER BBC chairman Michael Grade was surprised by his friend Tony Hall’s shock resignation from the BBC, saying: ‘I had a drink with him on Friday evening... he didn’t confide in me. He didn’t say he was leaving this week.’
CATS director Tom Hooper has finally found someone who likes his unintentionally hilarious film – Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, who attended a Tokyo screening. ‘The Emperor said to me, “It was really great. I enjoyed it”,’ says Hooper. What’s the Japanese for turkey?
BAFFLING that BBC radio presenter Sarah Montague waited eight years to raise the salary disparity issue. The discrepancies were highlighted back in 2011. Her £400,000 back pay is subject to income tax. What took her so long?
SUPERANNUATED chat show host Michael Parkinson says he’d love to come out of retirement to interview Donald Trump. ‘No journalist worth their salt,’ he says, ‘would not want a sit-down interview with him. Mr Trump is impenetrable in his idiocy.’ Back of the queue, Parky, after that slur!