Ephraim Hardcastle
IF Prince Harry is genuine and the King is receptive to reconciliation – understandable when Charles is facing unexpected intimations of mortality – will Prince William forgive Harry and Meghan’s antics since leaving the family? Taught his constitutional duty by the Queen, who would not tolerate the pair’s half-in, half-out model of royalty, ‘William also realises that it may fall to him to stabilise the monarchy if events take a wrong turn,’ says a courtier.
THE late Queen felt intimidated by mobile phones, says royal biographer and TV celebrity Gyles Brandreth, confiding: ‘I once asked the Queen, “How has your reign changed?” She said, “Well, it’s all gone quiet. When I began and got out of the car, people cheered and said hello. When I get out now, they’re all in silence filming the moment. I’m trying to reach past their phones to shake hands”.’
SINGING-acting-songwriter Gordon Sumner acquired the nickname Sting in the early 1970s because of a black and yellow hooped jumper he then wore frequently. Stewart Copeland, drummer in rock band The Police – which made them both superstars – tells the Tea With Twiggy podcast: ‘The only person who calls him Gordon is Trudi,’ referring to Trudie Styler, Sting’s wife since 1992. ‘When he’s on the Naughty Step it’s “GORDON!!!” When Trudie goes there even I jump.’
SHEDDING light on the end of her 27-year marriage to human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, let-itall-hang-out Aussie commentator Kathy Lette, pictured with her ex, reflects: ‘ We’d been drifting for a while. It wasn’t sex, but emotional intimacy that was missing. It had been a good marriage, but we were no longer making each other happy. That’s the truth of it. The marriage was dying, and I did not want to die with it.’ Seven years on and currently romancing Northern Irish musician Brian O’Doherty, she adds: ‘New adventures... travel, with my three sisters, champagne, sex!’ Let’s hope O’Doherty can cope!
VETERAN rock-and-roller Jess Conrad, 87, publishes an autobiography, From Blitz to Glitz, on Thursday. What does the old rascal have to tell us? Among other things, that Diana Dors once used the large flower pot in his office as a convenience, that he once canoodled with Hollywood glamour queen Jayne Mansfield while she spoke to her husband, bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, on the phone and in 1961 being voted Britain’s most popular male singer by the New Musical Express – beating the likes of Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde and Billy Fury.
THE sad news that Sir Ian McKellen’s romance with young panto co-star Oscar Conlon-Morrey is over comes 35 years after he publicly came out of the closet. Nearly 50 at the time, Sir Ian said his decision not to tell his parents before their deaths was ‘the greatest regret of my life’. When the middle-aged Ian finally told his stepmother, she bluntly replied: ‘I’ve known that for 39 years!’