Ephraim Hardcastle

SO why did the renowned, Scots-born, US-based academic Niall Ferguson, 52, make what he now admits was the biggest mistake of his career – coming out against Brexit? ‘He allowed himself to be got at by (then PM) David Cameron and (then Chancellor) George Osborne, who begged him to back Remain,’ confides a City friend who asked him the same question. More fool him? PRINCE Harry’s hotting-up romance with American actress Meghan Markle, pictured – he bunked at her Toronto flat this week – suggests marriage is imminent. Suppose Meghan is ‘the one’ but prefers to pursue her showbiz career while a princess. Will Harry follow his heart (marry her) or his head (not marry her)? If they do marry and produce ‘issue’ during the Queen’s reign, their children will be commoners. If the mites arrive when Harry’s father is on the throne, however, they can expect to be His or Her Royal Highness. ‘Understanding royal rules makes studying particle physics seem like a doddle,’ admits my source. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg’s Journalist of the Year prize from the British Journalism Awards upsets commentator and ex-Radio 4 Today programme editor Rod Liddle, who declares: ‘It’s nothing to do with her politics. It’s just the other bit of journalism that’s missing. The writing-it-down stuff.’ Honouring Laura, 40, meant the prize got mentioned by the BBC. Was this a consideration among organisers? COMEDIAN Jack Whitehall discovered while hosting the Fashion Awards that jokes must not be made about American Vogue’s so-important editor, Anna Wintour, 67. Talking about the fad among fashion folk – mannequin challenge: freezing in public like mime artistes – he jested: ‘If you need any tips on how to do it, just check out Anna Wintour. That frozen-faced lady has been perfecting it long before it was even a thing.’ Ms Wintour, pictured, who was present, didn’t (or perhaps couldn’t) laugh or smile. Neither did anyone else dare. MY November 24 column said that Matt Lucas went ‘off the radar’ after the death of his ex-partner Kevin McGee in 2009. We are happy to clarify that Mr Lucas has been involved in numerous successful stage, TV and film projects in the past seven years, and accept that he did not himself say ‘I am destroyed’ after Mr McGee’s death. We apologise to Mr Lucas for the distress caused. THE Garrick Club’s closed-circuit camera system has recorded an unusual incident in the Irving Room. Says the club diary: ‘A lady guest who was rather the worse for wear ended up performing a sort of rugby tackle on a distinguished club member, bringing him to the ground.’ Perhaps their July 2015 vote against accepting women members was a sensible precaution.