Ephraim Hardcastle
THE roving trade ambassador role of the Duke of York was thought to have ended in 2011 when his association with sleazy, Florida-based paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was publicised. But Prince ‘Airmiles Andy’ Andrew is still the Government’s indulgence. He summons Business Secretary Sajid Javid to Buckingham Palace for briefings. It was noted in the Court Circular this month: ‘The Duke of York this afternoon received the Rt. Hon. Sajid Javid MP (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills).’ My source says Andrew also helped youngest daughter Eugenie, who has started a new job at Mayfair art gallery Hauser & Wirth, by taking her for ‘a spot of networking’ at a Queen’s Award for Enterprise reception and had her attendance noted in the Court Circular. ‘A useful nudge to her employers about her value to them.’ A persistent prince – and a laudable father.
THE attrac t i ve University of London historian Dr Karina Urbach, 44, pictured, who says the Royal Archives should be thrown open to scholars, says the late Russian spy Anthony Blunt – a former Surveyor of the King’s Pictures – might have taken his juiciest secrets to the grave. A third cousin of the Queen Mother, MI5 officer Blunt was sent in 1945 by King George VI to retrieve possibly compromising royal correspondence sent to German relatives. It’s presumed Blunt passed copies to his Soviet paymasters. When Prince Charles controversially compared Russian president Vladimir Putin to Hitler in 2014, Moscow spooks hinted that Blunt’s file might have to be released. Hey ho!
AS Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix looms, F1 star Sir Jackie Stewart tells Boisdale Life magazine that the nowritual spraying of champagne over rivals and officials by winners began after he won the 1969 French Grand Prix: ‘The idiotic organisers put the bottle on the podium at the start of the race in 30 degrees of heat. As soon as the wire came off the thing exploded because of the heat. So I put my thumb over the top and it went even further. I tried to move it away from everybody but the more I shook it, the bigger the pressure.’
DEPUTY Commons leader Therese Coffey consoles rookie MPs holed up in pricey London hotels while hunting for flats. The gist of her advice is: ‘Don’t rush to find one. Estate agents can smell new MPs a mile away. Rents will drop after the summer, once all the gullible ones have rushed to sign rip-off leases.’ Blame Therese if they’re pitching tents in College Green by autumn.
DROPPED by clothes chain H&M two years ago after being photographed dropping a packet of suspicious-looking white powder, model Cara Delevingne, 22, is poised to conquer Hollywood, starring in the new romantic movie Paper Towns. Discussing her 2013 fall from grace, she says ‘I think everyone needs a bit of a slap in the face, and a reminder that no one is invincible.’ A wise head on young shoulders!