Ephraim Hardcastle
ARCHBISHOP of York Stephen Cottrell, taking charge of Church affairs with the Bishop of London during Justin Welby’s imminent sabbatical, must hope his three-month stewardship is a dry run for replacing Justin when he concludes the traditional ten-year tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury in 2023. While no Archbishop of York has gone to Canterbury since Donald Coggan in 1974, ambitious Cottrell remains keen. Will his election strategy be enhanced with the appointment of a chief of staff? The job offers a £90k salary – £6,500 more than the Archbishop of Canterbury. Asked about his vision for his reign at York when he was appointed last year, he said: ‘The trouble is, I’m not sure I’ve got one.’ Perhaps he has one for Canterbury.
CHANNEL 4’s re-exposure of the treachery of Cambridge spy and Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, Anthony Blunt, omits mention of his continued royal association right up to his death in 1983. After he was publicly disgraced by PM Margaret Thatcher in 1979, he was allowed access to Buckingham Palace to peruse the paintings he loved so much and to give discreet guided tours to select guests.
THe Crown’s Margaret Thatcher, Gillian Anderson, pictured in character, will surely wish BBC arts editor Will Gompertz a hearty bon voyage as he departs for a job as arts director at The Barbican. She was famously hurt when he described her as ‘floundering badly’ and ‘over-egging her Thatcher impression to such an extent she is close to unwatchable’. Following Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards for her Iron Lady, Gillian now has a Screen Actors Guild gong to wave Will off.
MIGHT Sir Tim Rice be having second thoughts about the closing lyric in his Cornwall G7 summit-inspired song: ‘Gee Seven, don’t let us mere mortals down or we will run you out of town’? Explains Tim: ‘Not that you can run anyone out of town in Cornwall as they are bendy lanes, beautiful but difficult to get out of.’ How about ‘Gee Seven, don’t cause us mere mortals pain or we will run you down the lane’?
THe Queen’s unmasked visit to Runnymede’s Air Forces Memorial underlines her aversion to wearing face coverings. This may stem from her Second World War adolescence when she developed a dislike of wearing gas masks. She has worn a mask just once in her four public outings since lockdown began. This was while observing the Church of england diktat at the Westminster Abbey Unknown Warrior service. Ironically church services begin: ‘O Lord, open Thou our lips and our mouths shall shew forth Thy praise.’
NEWLY ennobled Thatcher biographer Charles Moore takes Persil to task for carrying the word ‘USELESS’ on the lid of its rebranded packaging. He then clarifies: ‘Looking again at the lid, I realise I have misread it. It is not telling me that I am “USELESS”, but is advocating that I “USE LESS”.’ Much better he spends more time in his study writing his brilliant biographies than using his talents in the laundry room. A clean break is needed.