Ephraim Hardcastle
PrINCe Charles had as his godfather Prince George of Greece; exKing Constantine II of Greece was named as a godfather to Prince William. So there was a hope that London-based Prince Pavlos of Greece, 48 – Constantine’s son and heir – would become godfather to either Prince George or Princess Charlotte. Determined to go their own way, William and Kate decided otherwise. Not investment broker Pavlos’s only current disappointment. He campaigned for a Yes vote in Greece. FORMER coal miners’ leader Arthur Scargill, 77, contacts the Communist Morning Star newspaper, comparing the EU’s refusal to negotiate with Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who resigned, with ‘the Thatcher government’s refusal to talk to me during miners’ strike’. My source says: ‘After which Arthur returned to Planet Forgotten.’ SCeNtING a publicity coup when england’s women footballers, led by Steph Houghton, 27, pictured, got through to the World Cup semi-finals, honours officials considered a ‘blockgonging’, with OBes and MBes, if they lifted the trophy. Depite her team losing 2-1 to Japan in the semi-final, chief lioness Ms Houghton still merits mention in the New Year Honours List. PRINCE George and his newly christened sister, Princess Charlotte, are expected, respectively, to attend Wetherby PrePrep and its sister school, Pembridge Hall, in raffish Notting Hill, West London. Princes William and Harry attended £6,170-a-term Wetherby. All so different from their great-grandmother, homeschooled HMQ. Advised that she and Princess Margaret needed more reading material, the Queen Mother bought them several volumes of P G Wodehouse. GUArDS, bands, the firing of a feu de joie and a spectacular rAf flypast (weather permitting) will mark the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain on friday. there’s a three-line whip for balcony appearances at Buckingham Palace – the monarch and Philip, William, the Wessexes, the Gloucesters, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra. While the Queen darts off to Windsor afterwards, others are expected to attend various engagements involving veterans, which might clash with royal box invitations for the men’s semi-finals at Wimbledon. MUSN’T encourage him by repeating all of attention-seeking Tory MP Michael Fabricant’s comments, but I enjoyed the 65-year-old bachelor’s Twitter message after the Greek vote: ‘Now at a Greek restaurant overlooking the Thames drinking wine from Thessaloniki and celebrating. Time to smash a few plates!’ eX-Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown, 74, made a fool of himself on election night, claiming ‘I’ll eat my hat’ if his party fared as badly as the exit poll suggested. He says now: ‘Lorry drivers are shouting, “Oi, Paddy! Have you eaten your hat yet?”’ Of course he didn’t. Politicians don’t always do what they promise, you know.