Ephraim Hardcastle
SUGGESTIONS that Prince Philip left up to £10 million in his will remain speculation after the High Court confirmed it will be sealed for 90 years. The court did make a minor concession by allowing publication of the list of royal wills that remain sealed in perpetuity, including those of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. Why an exception for Philip? Because even in 2111, his may stay secret. Says a High Court source: ‘After 90 years, specific officials may inspect his will, who may then invite the court to rule on whether the will should be made public or resealed for a further period.’ Will anyone care in the 22nd century?
AT HIS delayed 80th birthday party at the Banqueting House in Whitehall on Saturday, Lord Archer said that like Henry VIII he had six wives. As his scientist wife Mary looked on, he said: ‘Mrs Archer; Dr Archer; Professor Archer; Lady Archer; Dame Mary.’ Last but not least, he said ‘Chancellor’ – the role she took with Buckingham University last year.
AFTER Boris donned a police beanie, Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio thanks him for his audition for the next series, tweeting: ‘But we’re looking for a character with at least one redeeming moral principle and a performance that places even just a scintilla of doubt in the audience’s mind that he might not be totally bent.’ What did Adrian ‘Ted Hastings’ Dunbar not say? ‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the wee donkey and the PM.’
SWITCHING her cook’s headgear for the hat of a newspaper agony aunt, Prue Leith, pictured, replies to a husband who has had to sleep separately from his Covid-ridden wife. ‘My husband says sharing a bed with me is like sleeping with a JCB, as I bulldoze my way to his side of the bed in my sleep,’ says the chef. At least it’s not a waterbed, Prue. Then you and hubby John Playfair might drift apart.
TRAFALGAR Square’s spindly Norwegian ‘where’s the rest of it?’ Christmas tree is defended by Queen Victoria’s biographer AN Wilson. Complaining of ‘ungrateful Londoners’, he says: ‘Without Norwegian help, we’d have lost the war. That’s what we are commemorating. It’s not a tree competition with the supermarket!!!’ Andrew has skin in the game. He is the author of The King and the Christmas Tree, a book about the friendship between Britain and Norway.
RETAIL queen Mary Portas, tasked ten years ago with saving the High Street, admits the practices she espoused were wrong, telling Cotswold Life: ‘I’ve fuelled the fire.’ She adds: ‘It’s time for a new way of doing business — successful business — using kindness, principles, respectfulness and creativity.’ Did St Paul encounter any boarded up shops on the road to Damascus?
ANDREW Marr, discussing the history of witches on Radio 4’s Start the Week, pontificates: ‘And real witches have hidden teats or nipples on which imps suck!’ Isn’t Andy going to be a great loss to the BBC?