Ephraim Hardcastle
HAS Fergie taken her foot off the pedal of her ‘best man in the world’ support for Andrew? That’s what she called her ex-husband eight years ago when Virginia Giuffre’s claims first became public. She returned to the theme frequently, calling him a ‘giant of a principled man’ on Instagram. But on her return to the royal fold at Christmas, she tweeted her gratitude with a photo of herself and her daughters sans Andrew. My mole whispers that robustly defending him might hamper her getting the television work she is keen to line up. Sarah has more than once been asked by producers not to mention the Epstein-shaped elephant in the room.
IS the King miffed that he hasn’t been able to visit any of Britain’s flood-hit areas? Since succeeding his mother, he can’t meddle as he did when he was Prince of Wales. In 2014, when flooding devastated the Somerset Levels, Charles was irked that neither the Government nor the Environment Agency seemed bothered. Off he went to Somerset, donating £50,000 to help the recovery effort and describing the delay in dealing with the problem as a ‘tragedy’. Almost immediately then PM David Cameron and the agency’s chairman Chris Smith donned rubber boots to see for themselves.
BUT the King was once outfoxed by Tony Blair. After flooding in 2000 brought misery to Worcestershire, he contacted No10 about a royal visit. He was told it might hinder relief operations. But the following day he must have spluttered over his organic breakfast oatmeal when he saw the PM visiting the flood areas. A courtier observed at the time: ‘Surprisingly he was wearing wellies and getting his feet wet rather than just walking on the water.’
ANTHEA Turner, marking the 60th anniversary of former teenage bible Jackie, recalls learning ‘how to kiss a boy’ from the mag’s Cathy and Claire problem page. ‘The suggestion was to practise on the back of your hand,’ says Anthea, pictured. ‘To make the hand kiss more realistic, create a mouth shape by putting forefinger and thumb together to make a perfect little mouth.’ All fine and dandy, but why didn’t Anthea wait to practise on her GMTV heartthrob co-host Eamonn Holmes?
PAYING tribute to JPR Williams, who has died aged 74, Wales rugby patron Prince William said: ‘There was no one quite like him on the rugby field. A true Welsh rugby union great.’ JPR proved loyal when there were grumbles about English-born William being handed the role. He insisted: ‘It’s good for Welsh rugby to have him involved. If we have princes of Wales, we should have them watching Wales.’ Payback time, William?
WE may not have seen the last of German football genius Franz Beckenbauer. He believed in reincarnation, boasting that in a previous life he was a Scottish warrior. Perhaps he’ll return as a VAR camera and recheck Geoff Hurst’s hotly disputed extra time goal which secured England victory in the 1966 World Cup.