Ephraim Hardcastle
THE Princess of Wales’s video announcement of her cancer treatment was not a carefully pre-planned BBC operation. Sources report that its timing had nothing to do with the speculation that would have come from her missing church on Easter morning, but because someone had got hold of the truth. A well-placed mole says that Kensington Palace had been contacted about Kate’s diagnosis, leaving no option but to hurry to get ahead of the story. Whether the leak came from The London Clinic, or from a flunkey who had been looselipped, remains unclear. Whatever the reason, the universal acclaim heaped on Kate confirmed it was the right decision.
PRINCE William, on light duties for the time being, might be glad he can swerve next month’s Bafta Awards. Netflix’s dramatisation of Windsor family life, The Crown, is up for eight awards, with nominations for Dominic West (who played William’s dad); Elizabeth Debicki (his mum); and Lesley Manville (great-aunt Margaret). Steve Coogan is nominated for best actor for his portrayal of Jimmy Savile in The Reckoning. Savile once gave Jim’ll Fix It badges to William and Harry. The prince might have found it difficult to dispense gongs.
NICHOLAS Witchell, lauded by the King on his retirement, was once far more incandescent with his BBC bosses than he was when Charles called him ‘awful’ on Klosters’ ski slopes. As a young reporter newly arrived from Belfast, he lobbied hard to be chosen to travel with the 1982 Task Force to recapture the Falkland Islands. Instead, the late Brian Hanrahan was chosen and became part of history for his ‘I counted them all out and I counted them all back again’ reference to the Harrier jets flying off the deck of HMS Invincible. When Witchell heard he had not been chosen, he went down to the garage and kicked a huge dent into the driver’s door of the nearest camera car.
FLATTERED to be played by Billie Piper in the Netflix drama Scoop, out Friday, how will Sam McAlister, pictured, fare in the rival Amazon production of Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview? With Ruth Wilson playing Emily Maitlis and Michael Sheen as Andrew, Sam is doomed to have a lower profile in A Very Royal Scandal.
FORMER Commons speaker John Bercow, not universally loved, is speaking at a ‘future of politics’ festival in Hay-on-Wye in May. The festival’s publicity material describes the former speaker as ‘charming and attractively self-deprecating’. Charming? He’s about as charming as a swarm of bees down your jockstrap.
HIGHLIGHTING her long friendship with His Majesty, saucy socialite Kathy Lette rudely recalls those infamous phone calls with Camilla from 30 years ago: ‘I’ve liked Charles ever since he wanted to be a tampon. I thought at the time it totally summed up his whole life: always in the right place at the wrong time.’ To the tower, Lette!