Ephraim Hardcastle
ON THE Boris Gropegate furore Petronella Wyatt is torn. At the time of the 1999 Spectator lunch – when Charlotte Edwardes claims editor Boris squeezed her thigh – he was enjoying a long affair with Petsy, deputy editor of the Speccie and daughter of Tote chairman Lord Wyatt. As a friend of Charlotte, she says she’s reluctant to disbelieve her, adding: ‘All I can say is that Boris never groped me. He chose the poetic, romantic approach.’ OMINOUSLY Petronella shares her wisdom, tweeting: ‘If you actively seek a position inextricably linked with fame, and enjoy that fame, then you should be very careful what you do. Especially in the presence of journalists.’ HARRY’S commemoration of his late mother in an Angolan minefield contrasts with the interminable delay in unveiling the Kensington Gardens statue of Diana promised by her two sons nearly three years ago to mark the 20th anniversary of her death. Due this spring, a delay was announced in May. In July, William said it would be seen ‘very soon’. Have the boys lost interest? And when will it be made public? ‘It is not a short-term project,’ says a reliable royal source. ‘This is a statue that will last for ever. The dukes want to ensure that this enduring monument is completely right.’ LORD Ashcroft, partying in Manchester with the 1922 Committee, boasts of reviewing David Cameron’s new memoir, saying: ‘I haven’t read the book but I’ve written the review.’ Hardly an ideal route to Call Me Dave’s forgiveness for his Oxford pig’s head tale in his earlier Cameron biography. HELEN Mirren’s portrayal of Catherine the Great prompts the Oscar-winning actress to finally discredit the myth, disseminated by Catherine’s son Tsar Paul I, that she died while copulating with a horse. Helen, pictured, tells Radio Times: ‘Even feminists have said to me, “Ooh, what are you going to do about the scene with the horse?” and I have to say, “That was a lie, and shame on you!” ’ JACOB Rees-Mogg and wife Helena’s enjoyment of a quiet quaff at Manchester’s Radisson Blu hotel prior to his conference speech on Sunday was interrupted by a Remainer who yelped: ‘You piece of s***, you’ve lost touch with the people.’ Utterly unfazed, Mrs Rees-Mogg turned to her startled husband, remarking: ‘What wonderful hospitality.’ MARGARET Thatcher’s biographer Charles Moore reveals that a bestselling novelist was an unexpected go-between after Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses prompted Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini to issue the 1989 fatwa. The author was close to an Iranian intermediary who unsuccessfully tried to have the fatwa withdrawn. Who was it? Step forward, Dame Barbara Cartland!