AND THE REST...

CATHERINE OXENBERG, the Dynasty actress and daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia: ‘Prince Andrew asked me to marry him on the palace balcony on Charles and Diana’s wedding day. I’d decided I wanted to act so I said no, and he said he’d wait. It’s probably not healthy to marry a second cousin anyway.’ (November 2005)

PRINCE MICHAEL OF KENT

‘I think Gwyneth Paltrow’s marvellous. Oh yes. I thought her performance in Shakespeare In Love was absolutely terrific. I watched the film endlessly on every aeroplane I took. You know the bit at the end, when she walks along those wonderful sands on some far-distant island? It was done in Norfolk. I only know that because I was the one watching long enough to read the very last bit of the credits. I’ve never met her, but I’m a great admirer.’ (March 2000)

MARQUESA DE VARELA,

Hello! magazine’s chief networker: ‘Camilla was amazingly successful with men even when she was very young. She wasn’t beautiful, but very, very sexy.’ (November 2002)

THOMAS MARKLE JR,

Meghan’s brother: ‘When Meg was born, Dad was a changed man. She was his whole world. The look on his face was priceless. She was a really cute kid, too. You couldn’t get a cuter baby. Dad would take so many pictures of Meggie, she must have been the most photographed baby in the San Fernando Valley! He must have about 50,000 pictures stashed away.’ (April 2018)

VISCOUNT LINLEY ‘I try to make the Queen laugh. I do impressions.’ (March 2003)

PRINCE CHARLES ‘You have to write it down. If I don’t write it down, I’ve had it. So I’ve got these little notes in every single jacket. As long as I write it down, I’ll do it.’ (November 2008)

PRINCE EDWARD ‘The fire at Windsor Castle raged all around this little pantry, creating a vacuum. Afterwards, when the door was opened and the air rushed in, there was the priceless crystal used at the annual

Garter Day lunch. It was quite unharmed. Extraordinary.’ (November 1997)