I’ll go back to look for Esther ..it’s baffling no trace at all was found
PARTNER’S VOW ON HIKER
THE partner of missing hiker Esther Dingley says he is preparing to return to the Pyrenees to continue his search for her.
Dan Colegate spoke out after French police said this week they have done “all they can” to find her and that further searches are unlikely to resume until Spring. Esther, 37, vanished in November on a four-week solo trek.
She and Dan, 38, had spent six years travelling abroad in a camper van.
Dan, 38, told the Sunday People: “I intend to return as soon as weather permits to repeat the searches carried out.
“I’ll also search further afield, scanning across the landscape systematically to rule out each area piece by piece.”
The former business development manager from
Durham does not believe
Esther, his partner of 19 years, had an accident or chose to disappear and suspects foul play.
He said: “Esther is an experienced hiker who was carrying suitable equipment. She’d done countless similar hikes.
“If she had an accident I firmly believe she’d have been found on or close to one of the extensive, well-made paths in the area. The fact no trace was found, despite an intensive search in good weather, was frustrating – and baffling to those involved in the search.”
Dan, who is in close touch with officers in France and Spain, said French police had reassured him the investigation “is ongoing”. He added: “I want to restate my gratitude for their hard work.”
PRINCE Harry’s chat with James Corden on that Los Angeles open top bus was the perfect piece of post-megxit PR.
It was funny, relaxed, and revealing and reminded us of the old Harry – the REAL Harry – before he morphed into a woke, eco-warrior with a millionaire’s mansion and a private jet.
You couldn’t fail to warm to him as he went along with Corden’s “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” gags and asked to use a stranger’s throne room for a widdle.
Waffle
And it was truly touching to hear him talk about Archie, revealing his first word was crocodile and that Great-granny, the Queen, bought him a waffle maker for Christmas. That action man assault course at the end reminded everyone of Harry’s courageous Army service and the honorary military roles he treasured but has now had to relinquish.
And, while it did seem slightly odd that the publicity-shy Duke was suddenly happy to open up to millions of TV viewers, he seemed to speak from the heart.
Harry claims the “toxic” British press were destroying his mental health so he had no option but to leave the UK to protect his wife and son. But he only ever planned to “step back” from the pressures, not away from his royal life and the privileges it afforded.
“My life is always going to be about public service,” he said. “Meghan signed up to that, and the two of us enjoy doing that, trying to bring compassion, trying to make people happy and trying to change the world in the small way that we can.” Since the outing with Corden was recorded, the Queen made it clear they couldn’t be “half in, half out” royals and removed their remaining patronages.
So there will be intense scrutiny on the Sussexes’ upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey which has been “re-edited” to reflect the nowpermanent Megxit.
It is certain to be revealing. But whether it will be as funny and relaxed – for them or the wider Windsor family – remains to be seen.
For me, the most telling part of Harry’s chat with Corden was the revelation that he watches The Crown – the Netflix series criticised for blurring drama and reality. “It’s fictional. But it’s loosely based on the truth,” said Harry.
“And I am way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing stories written about my family or my wife.”
It can’t have been very comfortable watching the last series which dramatised Princess Diana’s misery, her bulimia and the very public breakdown of his parents’ marriage. In fact, it must have brought back awful memories of the childhood scarred by his mother’s tragic death.
And it will certainly have reinforced Harry’s conviction that he, and only he, can protect his wife from a similar fate.
That is his truth and he will never be able to accept another narrative.
But, seeing the old Harry drinking tea and larking about on a double decker I was truly sad that he’s gone from The Firm forever. And that we have lost our funny, fresh prince to Bel Air.
PAWNBROKER shops were given a sexy makeover in ITV’S Million Pound Pawn on Tuesday.
Keen to shed their dodgy backalley businesses reputation, we met high-end pawnbrokers who deal with luxury assets from helicopters to houseboats and the odd diamond here and there.
“When people are asset rich and cash poor, pawnbroking is a lifeline,” says London pawnbroker Ray. His customer Hayes didn’t need much sympathy. After a tough year, the 26-year-old was forced to tighten the purse strings and sell his top-of-the-range Lamborghini. Poor love.
Elsewhere, ex-black Lace singer Dene Michael cashed in his prized Rolex watch for £4,000.
A bonkers world of big bucks and fast deals.
TV law states that all middle-aged male actors must eventually play the role of Moody Cop with a Troubled Past (overcoat and alcoholism optional).
And so in BBC’S Bloodlands, we say goodbye to the boyish banter of Cold Feet’s James Nesbitt, and hello to grown-up Nesbitt, who fortunately still retains a twinkle in his sad eyes.
He plays DCI Tom Brannick who, on first impressions, is a dedicated single dad, conscientious cop and deeply disturbed by “something he’s not telling us”.
Some viewers did complain about all the cliches. But do you know what? I think sometimes, we secretly love spotting them.
May I recommend cliche bingo – a game you can play to add a frisson of excitement to your viewing.
Brannick certainly is troubled. Add to this a Belfast-set plot relating to the actual Troubles and you’ve got yourself a rather dark piece of Irish noir. Produced by Jed Mercurio, the man behind Line of Duty, any comparisons to that ratings hit are probably unfair as this four-parter feels much more contemplative and not one police interrogation scene so far.
That said, Brannick does need to weed out a bent copper, mother of God so he does. When a postcard featuring a crane is found taped to the wing mirror of a car pulled out of a river, its owner kidnapped, Brannick’s expression goes all Blue Steel.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” asks colleague DS Niamh Mcgovern, played by Charlene Mckenna.
“Yes. Carry on,” he replies, a fleeting smirk of dark humour.
Turns out the postcard is the calling card of a forgotten assassin, codenamed Goliath, who killed four people in the months leading up to the Good Friday
Agreement in 1998, including – plot twist – Brannick’s wife. What we now have is a grieving detective on a mission to find his wife’s killer, who must a) dodge top brass who try and stop him, and b) trust no one.
Scenes flip from Nesbitt looking pensive and pained to tense moments including a petrol bombing and a particularly exciting scene with a bomb disposal expert.
By the end of episode one, three bodies have been dug up, Brannick’s Blue Steel look has become permanent and I am left with several burning questions.
Is Brannick’s wife actually dead? Who is Goliath? Is the police chief dodgy? Is that too obvious? And will Brannick break out the Nesbitt charm for the sexy doctor?
The gritty thriller continues tonight and whether we think we’ve seen it all before or not, this is a class act of its genre. I’m all in.