Ephraim Hardcastle
ANDREW retaining his HRH fuels Harry and Meghan’s accusation of double standards. And he continues to feature in the Court Circular, the Queen insisting that his birthday was honoured, as well as his appearance at a thanksgiving for a former dean of Windsor. By contrast Harry’s swansong engagements don’t feature. But it’s not a snub. He’s told staff not to provide the information to the official record.
THE debate on Harry and Meghan’s protection costs reminds courtiers of Andrew’s suggestion that, alongside security training, royals should be equipped with guns. After all, the Queen Mother shot rats with a revolver during the Second World War to prepare for Adolf. Andrew’s idea came to nothing. The compensation bill might have been daunting.
PRINCE Charles constantly asked Hilary Mantel about the progress of her final Thomas Cromwell opus. She tells Radio Times: ‘He would ask how it was coming along. They must be strange novels for a future king to read.’ In his remotest dreams, does the future king yearn for Henry’s beheading powers?
CARRIE Symonds’s new PR Sarah VaughanBrown, pictured, was helpful to Boris and his fiancee after their notorious June 2019 shouting match when a photograph of the loved-up couple in a hayfield mysteriously appeared. Was it taken before or after the domestic spat? Sarah, then at ITN, confirmed it was snapped after the plate-smashing row.
JAMES Purnell, £315,000 BBC executive, seeks London Marathon sponsorship. In 2006, the ex-Labour minister hosted a party fundraiser where Alastair Campbell and Cherie Blair autographed a copy of the Hutton report into the death of Dr David Kelly. It secured £400, though Tony Blair later had to answer questions about it in the Commons on grounds of taste. Neither Mrs Blair nor Campbell have contributed to the marathon bid so far.
ANDREW Neil points out that after 38year-old Pete Buttigieg’s departure from the Democratic presidential race, Donald Trump at 73 is now the youngest male candidate left, with Joe Biden aged 77 and Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg both 78. This prompts James Naughtie to whip out his transatlantic abacus to tell Radio 4’s World at One: ‘If Pete ran for president eight elections from now in 2052, he’d still be younger than Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.’ Let’s hope James will still be with us even in his 101st year.
JOHN Cleese offers to meet admirers on the US video site Fanmio, explaining: ‘It’ll just be the two of us talking and you can ask me whatever you want.’ Perhaps the boobies could inquire why the ex-Python is charging £235 per intimate chinwag.
JACOB Rees-Mogg offers advice on how to cope with the coronavirus crisis: ‘Coughs and sneezes spread diseases, keep it in your handkerchief,’ adding the Cabinet mantra: ‘Wash your hands to the national anthem.’ Sorted!