Ephraim Hardcastle
HARRY’S £14million autobiography deal is ‘unfortunate and unnecessary’, says Andrew Neil, questioning Harry’s motives and warning: ‘The book I feel may cause the Royal Family more anguish. Harry has gone down a road from which there is no good ending because every book will have to be more sensational than the last. It’s almost as if he is still settling scores.’ Neil, who recently confirmed he was no longer a Republican, adds kind words for the monarch in a Channel 5 documentary screened on Saturday: ‘She has been a rallying call for the nation, a unifying figure, a figure of love for the nation as well as a figure of common sense.’ Heaven awaits the repentant sinner Andrew!
AS Meghan’s engagement with US politics fuels speculation that she might one day run for the White House, Charles Moore dampens any such ambitions, saying that as a Royal Highness she contravenes the American Constitution which states: ‘No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States.’ Lord Moore adds: ‘Her husband, of course, is His Royal Highness, so I do not see how he could be the First Gentleman if his wife were to enter the White House: he, too, would be “accepting an office of profit or trust”.’ Might HRH renounce her title, change her name and run as prospective President Netflix?
WOULD Boris have deleted his embarrassing CBI reference to Peppa Pig World if he’d known he’d be mocked by Lembit Opik? The failed Lib Dem MP enjoyed Peppa’s hospitality with his daughter Angelina, saying: ‘I have to say Boris has two things in common with my four-year-old. They both seem to love Peppa Pig World, and they both seem to display a lack of focus.’ The only difference is Angelina’s not running the country! Oink! Oink!
THE taxpayer-funded National Theatre’s new show Manor, which has opened to stinky reviews, is written by Moira Buffini and directed by her sister Fiona. The National’s Christmas show Hex, likewise, is directed by its boss Rufus Norris and written by his wife Tanya Ronder, pictured. It all brings new meaning to the expression ‘family show’.
TLS reader Patricia Morison takes issue with Royal writer A.N. Wilson’s contention that Queen Mary did not cadge art treasures from her hosts’ country houses, writing: ‘As children we often heard of the Queen’s fateful visit to our grandfather the Rector of Fakenham. She enthusiastically admired his collection of Victorian embroidery… and that was that.’ She adds: ‘Perhaps it is still in the attic at Sandringham.’
RIVER Café owner Ruth Rogers persuaded luvvie-in-chief Sir Ian McKellen to do a charity reading of Proust and Shakespeare at her trendy trough. ‘It was so beautiful to listen to that we thought, Well, what about the idea of reading a recipe?’ says Ruth. Ian stoically spouted her recipe for potato soup. What rhymes with the specials are on the board, darling?