Ephraim Hardcastle

WHILE Princes William and harry pay solemn tribute to their late mother in a forthcoming ITV documentary, her ex-butler Paul Burrell, 59, says he and Diana had ‘a secret system’ to manage her many men friends. he elaborates on Australian Tv: ‘I had a board in my pantry of numbers. They all had names and we all knew which number each one related to. So I’d say to the Princess, “number six rang this afternoon, he wants to see you tomorrow.”’ The rascal remembers Diana replying: ‘Really? What about number two? Did he ring?’ he’s a far cry from PG Wodehouse’s fictional creation Jeeves, discreet valet to idle, well-to-do gentleman Bertie Wooster, isn’t he? ELIZABETH Hurley, 52, claims modestly: ‘I certainly look different when I’m in the country, when I haven’t been through hair and make-up. On those days I certainly don’t look glamorous at all.’ Here’s countrywoman Ms Hurley, posing for her Twitter followers, in the grounds of her Herefordshire mansion. PRINCE harry becomes the more formal Prince henry of Wales for this week’s Spanish state visit as he escorts King Felipe and Queen Letizia to Westminster Abbey, something visiting royals usually do unaccompanied. he will also don his white tie and tails for the state banquet. It’s intended to show that he has a purpose and a heightened role as his father, Prince Charles, plans slimming down the family. For the banquet, harry will be ‘paired’ with a member of the Spanish delegation. But next time he has to turn out for one he’ll likely have his own companion Meghan Markle on the top table. I hear that it was once suggested that harry and his cousin Beatrice be ‘paired up’ for some royal duties, to raise her profile and ease her into a royal role, but nothing came of that. APROPOS Harry, did he urge the appointment of Major Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah as the Queen’s first black equerry? Courtiers have been conscious of the ‘male and pale’ image of the Royal Family but unable to do much about it. Although the Royal Household has a ‘diversity and inclusion policy’, the recruiting pools for top royal appointments – military officers and senior civil servants – are still predominantly white. Harry and Twumasi-Ankrah were fellow officers in the Blues and Royals and both served in Afghanistan. The late broadcaster Barry norman’s daughter, emma, says his BBC employers were rather ungenerous when he left as host of their flagship film show after 26 years in 1998. Paying tribute to her father, who died aged 83 last month, she tells Radio Times: ‘The BBC let him go very quietly. There was never a great party or send off or anything. I think we thought, “Well, b **** r them.”’