Ephraim Hardcastle
LADY Carnarvon, chatelaine of Highclere Castle, has rejoiced in raking in the cash since Julian Fellowes’s Downton Abbey started filming at the Berkshire property six years ago but, understandably, doesn’t like fans turning up unannounced. So ‘Lady Caravan’ (as some local wits refer to her) has furnished taxi drivers at nearby Newbury railway station with an official letter requesting that no one is brought to the house on days when it is closed to the public. How sensible!
HISTORIAN Paul Johnson’s wife, Marigold, 83, has written a remarkable letter to The Spectator commenting on a book it reviewed about red hair, saying: ‘As the wife for 57 years of one of The Spectator’s longest-running columnists, Paul Johnson, 86, may I comment? Here is a little quatrain we wrote yesterday to cheer us up: “When Paul became a Thatcherite/ His hair became a mop of white/ But what I see when he’s in bed/ Is pubic hair still flaming red.” Is this a biochemical, personal or political development?’ The Johnsons are an eccentric couple. Surely a Marigold diary of their social and political lives would fly off the shelves.
A RADIO 4 island of sophistication, Just a Minute’s half century on air is saluted by host Nicholas Parsons, 91, in a new book in which he recalls the late Sir Clement Freud deliberately spilling a glass of water over fellow contestant Gyles Brandreth to put him off his stride; Derek Nimmo setting off a stink bomb during a 1981 recording; and how comic actor Kenneth Williams – the show’s fastest-speaking panellist – completed more uninterrupted minutes than any other contestant. Comparisons are invidious, but hasn’t Parsons done more for the BBC’s reputation than his richly rewarded colleague, Alan Yentob?
A NOTICEABLE absentee from the Queen’s discreet, ‘ longestserving UK monarch’ family celebration at Balmoral will be the Duchess of Cornwall. She’ll be attending what Clarence House calls a ‘famous faces’ event at ITV HQ in London to celebrate the channel’s 60th birthday. The famous faces include flirty ITV breakfast anchor Susanna Reid, pictured, together with cerebral This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. Lucky Camilla!
DUE to join Radio 4’s Today programme soon, ex-BBC political editor Nick Robinson responds to a suggestion on Twitter that he landed the job because of past links to the family of the show’s famous late presenter Brian Redhead, saying: ‘Sad way to see the world. Brian was my inspiration, but died before I even became a reporter.’
BILLY Tallon, the Queen Mother’s flamboyant page, ended 50 years of loyal service with a Gold Royal Victorian Medal, the rarest of all honours. Billy occasionally wore his with a long ribbon on nights out, causing some to take him for an ageing Olympic medallist. After the death of the QM, he retired, maintaining a dignified silence. He viewed with distaste the antics of Paul Burrell, who – after representations by his employer Diana – got a plain Royal Victorian Medal and, 18 years after her death, joined the rabble of so-called celebrities on Channel 5’s Big Brother.