Ephraim Hardcastle
LBC broadcaster Iain Dale, 55, has had a badtempered exchange with acerbic political journalist Michael White, 72. Dale tweeted: ‘I have had no second thoughts on Brexit. But I have had third and fourth thoughts about the way Theresa May is conducting it.’ White (ex-The Guardian) responds: ‘I had no idea you had as many as four thoughts in total about anything, Iain. It reveals a new, reflective you. Perhaps the looming arrival of Eddie Mair [leaving the BBC for LBC] is raising the bar already! Good luck, concentrate on day job, leave Brexit to the long-trousers.’ Dale erupts: ‘I see old age hasn’t changed you Michael. You’re still the arrogant p****, you always were.’ Gentlemen, please! PRINCE Charles concludes his annual Wales Week tomorrow with a significant milestone unmarked – the Diamond Jubilee of his creation as Prince of Wales. Why so? Is he waiting for next July, the Golden Jubilee of his investiture at Caernarfon Castle? No sign of that. Or, does he wish it to be forgotten that he is our longest-serving Prince of Wales, having cruised past Edward VII (59 years) last September? FEISTY Tory MP Nadine Dorries, pictured, attacks the New Statesman, accusing the magazine of ‘deliberately savaging writers with bad reviews if they don’t fit with your Leftwing political view’. She adds triumphantly: ‘They did it to me and I’ve since sold 1.8million books.’ WHY the fuss about Serena Williams, 36, contesting Wimbledon after giving birth to a daughter, Alexis? Australia’s bornpoor, Aboriginal tennis star Evonne Goolagong had a daughter, Kelly, in 1977, and returned to win the competition in 1980. The difference? Popular Evonne’s pay cheque was £18,000; this year’s women’s champion gets £2,250,000. APPOINTING former counter-terrorism expert and ex-assistant chief constable of Thames Valley Police Brendan O’Dowda as Eton’s new head of security is seen as a lure to attract royal pupils. The school hasn’t had one since Prince Harry left in 2003. Will Prince George, five this month, be the next? Preference used to be given to sons of alumni but this is said to be a thing of Eton’s past. So has George inherited his mother Kate’s brains? ROYAL Warrant holders Thomas Goode, now selling historic artefacts, establishes a museum featuring a miniature tea set made for Queen Mary’s 1924 dolls house. Luckily for Goode, Queen Mary never visited the shop’s vault in South Audley Street, Mayfair. The consort of King George V was described as: ‘Probably the most exalted petty thief in her country’s history.’ PUBLICISING a memoir about his 1970s heyday, The Golden Days of Radio One, ex-BBC DJ ‘Diddy’ David Hamilton, 79, claims: ‘We didn’t go round forcing ourselves on women. It sounds conceited to say it, but we didn’t have to because a lot of women were forcing themselves on us.’ Meanwhile, thrice-wed Kinks star Sir Ray Davies, 74, offers an unusual perspective: ‘A world-famous groupie once threw me out because I was too kind.’