Ephraim Hardcastle
HARRY and Meghan’s abandonment of royal duties and Andrew’s disgrace have catapulted Edward and Sophie into the Royal Family’s top tier. A documentary for Channel 5 describes them as ‘increasingly significant’ and highlights the extra demands placed on Edward and Sophie since the Sussex twosome and the Duke of York dropped out of the Court Circular. ‘As the youngest child of the Queen, Prince Edward had often struggled to find a role for himself,’ it states. Mercifully no mention of It’s a Royal Knockout.
EDWARD’s daughter Lady Louise, 16, is working hard for her Duke of Edinburgh award with proud mum Sophie confiding: ‘It contains a volunteering section, which is something she enjoys very much.’ Absolutely no question of Louise tipping an advantageous wink to dad – who has been running the scheme since Prince Philip retired.
ANDREW Neil joins the Proms fiasco chorus pointing out: ‘If Britannia had not ruled the waves there would never have been a Royal Navy strong enough to abolish the slave trade, intercepting 1,600 ships and freeing 150,000 Africans while sustaining major casualties.’ He adds: ‘Because the Royal Navy with Allied ships dominated the Channel in 1944, we were able to launch D-Day, which was the beginning of the end for the Nazi Holocaust.’
WHEN Sir John Drummond ran the Proms he banned balloons and complained about one colourful Promenader saying: ‘There’s a man who comes every year with an inflatable parrot on a string. He comes up and says, “I’ve got my parrot”. And I think, “Oh yes, of course you’ve got your bloody parrot”. And all through he’s bobbing up and down with his bloody parrot. Me. me, me, me, me! That’s what it’s all about.’ After John resigned in 1995 the balloons were reinstated. No news on the parrot.
JEREMY Paxman, pictured, fails to disguise his disdain for the spate of PC questions on rap he is obliged to ask on University Challenge. When Strathclyde ‘passed’ on three questions on ‘Atlanta rap hip hop’ Paxo drawled ‘very wise’, adding to laughter ‘your wisdom knows no bounds’. Did he know one of the correct answers was US rapper Gucci Mane, who ended a three-year jail sentence in 2016 for a gun and drugs crime? Land of Dope and Glory?
ELTON John tells fans he’s adding an extra chapter to the paperback edition of his memoir Me explaining: ‘I’m bringing it completely up to date.’ Will he find space for the loaning of his private jet to Harry and Meghan and putting them up in his palatial Nice mansion?
EDWARD Heath’s Salisbury home Arundells is open to the public this weekend but only for socially distanced visitors. That would suit the old curmudgeon who, with his Nemesis Margaret Thatcher, was a trail-blazing social distancer.
Email: john.mcentee@dailymail.co.uk