Ephraim Hardcastle
PRINCE Harry’s staff tweeted an announcement about his attendance at a service for the fallen of the Metropolitan Police next week. Unhappily, instead of linking it to the Met’s Twitter account, @MetPoliceuk, they sent it to @metpolice, a spoof one which uses a caricature of fabled fibber Pinocchio in place of the Met badge and declares: ‘We waste so much money covering up our own unlawful acts that we cannot afford any more officers. We are arrogant & don’t care about wasting taxpayers money.’ No doubt (deputy) heads will roll.
EDITOR Stig Abell of the Times Literary Supplement says they won’t be reviewing Unleashing Demons, the book by David Cameron’s communications director, Sir Craig Oliver, ‘mainly as there is not much to say about a series of memos from a self-aggrandising press officer’. However the TLS does devote a page to The Senecans, a self-indulgent memoir-ofsorts by its ex-editor, Sir Peter Stothard. His knighthood from Tony Blair was as surprising as Oliver’s from Cameron.
PRISCILLA Presley, pictured, the former wife of Elvis, recalls on Radio 4’s Midweek how the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll disapproved of her frowning because he didn’t want lines on her forehead. Fellow guest Jeremy Paxman remarked gallantly: ‘It worked. You haven’t got a single wrinkle.’ Perhaps you, dear reader, can think of a more plausible reason.
ROBERT De Niro’s announcement that he wants to ‘punch’ Donald Trump in the face provokes fellow actor Jon Voight, 77. Voight, father of actress Angelina Jolie, says: ‘I am so ashamed of my fellow actor Bobby De Niro’s rant against Donald Trump. What foul words he used against a presidential nominee.’ De Niro, 73, who starred with Voight in hit 1995 film Heat, responds coolly: ‘I like Jon, he’s a nice guy – but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about..’ In common with tens of millions of Americans, it seems.
ROCKER sir Roderick David stewart, 71, met the Queen at a Royal academy reception on Tuesday after receiving his ‘K’ earlier that day. HM expressed a keen interest in his elevation, which had been conducted by Prince William. ‘Did William do it properly?’ she wanted to know.
WHILE Jeremy Corbyn’s privately educated communications director, Seumas Milne, is obliged to defend the party’s ban on new grammar schools, his wife, Cristina Montanari, is a private tutor coaching children for selective schools from the family’s £2m house in Richmond. It’s a familiar old Labour refrain: Don’t do as I do; do as I say.
CROONER leonard Cohen, 82, says You Want It Darker will be his final album. He recalls that CBs refused to release 1984’s Various Positions, an album which included hits such as Hallelujah and If It Be Your Will, saying in an interview: ‘Walter Yetnikoff, the head of CBs Records, argued with me about the mix. “look, leonard,” he said, “We know you’re great, but we don’t know if you’re any good.” ’ an important distinction.