Hardcastle

WHAT is it with Prince Andrew and his shady friends? Nurali Aliyev, grandson of former Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, is in the High Court fighting to retain his £39million Hampstead mansion as the National Crime Agency investigates whether it was bought with money from crime. Grandad Nazarbayev enjoyed a private lunch with the Queen engineered by Andrew in 2015. This was eight years after son-in-law Timur Kulibayev bought Andrew and Sarah’s Berkshire home, for £3million over the asking price. Whichever way he turns, Andrew seems haunted by shady tycoons.

EMBARRASSED after his phone hoax and description of President Trump as having ‘blood on his hands’, Prince Harry might breathe a belated sigh of relief that Trump did not end up as his stepfather after his blatant wooing of Princess Diana. Diana’s pal Selina Scott remembers the future President ‘bombarding’ her with flowers at Kensington Palace after her 1996 split from Charles, adding: ‘Trump clearly saw Diana as the ultimate trophy wife.’ Selina wisely urged Diana to ‘throw the flowers in the bin’.

FIERY presenter Kirstie Allsopp, pictured, tweets: ‘It will be a tiny coronavirus silver lining if GCSE exams are moved to September, or scrapped altogether.’ The daughter of Baron Hindlip, who as a ‘non-conformist’ pupil got through no fewer than ten schools in her youth, adds: ‘And those grotesque schools that boot out kids who don’t make the grade, in order to stock up on “brighter” kids to boast their A-levels results, have to forget about it.’

THE Queen was apparently reluctant to follow the handshake ban at Monday’s Commonwealth Day service but observed the anti-virus edict. At last week’s investiture she wore gloves but baulked at a handshake ban, explaining that recipients were advised that once HM extended her hand the audience was over.

DIANE Abbott has been lambasting Chancellor Rishi Sunak for previously working at two investment firms which have ‘very close ties to tax havens like the Cayman Islands’. Has Miss Abbott forgotten her own ties to tax havens? She once pocketed £2,500 plus expenses for giving a speech to the Jersey Community Relations Trust.

The curse of Desert Island Discs. No sooner had Dorothy Byrne, Channel 4’s veteran head of news and current affairs, been a castaway than she was booted upstairs to the hardly taxing new post of sustainability and mentoring. Bit of a step down for Byrne, who also ran Dispatches and Disappearing World. It’s now her world of commissioning which has disappeared.

AMANDA Redman, complaining about ageism on TV, seems to have forgotten celebrating her 50th birthday in 2009 – when in fact she was about to turn 52.