Ephraim Hardcastle

FUGITIVE WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, self-imprisoned in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, has written to the Queen pleading his cause, I’m told. In 2015, I mentioned that the departing Ecuadorian ambassador, Eduardo Falconi Puig, should have been visited by the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps but, since this would have given Australian Assange an opportunity to hand over a letter to the Queen, went to him at St James’s Palace instead. Assange addressed his letter to ‘the Queen of Australia’. So if he gets a reply, it might come from Canberra. SIR Paul McCartney, pictured, performed at a private party for US business tycoon Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots football team. Sir Paul sang the usuals, including Hey Jude, before an audience of just 300 in a stadium that can hold 65,878. Old rockers never die; they croon for private parties. THE king of the Netherlands’ state visit on October 23 is the first one-night affair with everything shoe-horned into 30 hours. The City of London, which usually hosts a banquet on the second night, is laying on a breakfast. My source says: ‘This hasn’t gone down too well with the wives of the sheriffs and aldermen who won’t get to wear their tiaras.’ WHEN Tom ‘Friend of the Royals’ Bradby, 51, displaced Mark Austin as News At Ten presenter three years ago, the pair engaged in what ITN insiders called a bout of male posturing. On Tuesday, Mark, 59, who quit after being demoted to the early evening bulletin and is now at Sky News, visited ITN HQ for the first time to record an interview about his new book. Says an ITN source: ‘They didn’t meet. There was no willy waving.’ DONALD Trump’s former girlfriend, Australian golfer Jan Stephenson, 66, inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame yesterday, says she has never regretted ditching Trump – and missing out on becoming First Lady – to pursue her career. She added: ‘Somebody asked Trump [about] that when we were playing golf together, and he said, “We would have already been divorced by now.” ’ Fore! PRINCESS Eugenie will keep her title after her marriage today to Jack Brooksbank, while he remains plain mister. Commoners marrying princesses are usually offered earldoms, enabling their children to have titles. Antony Armstrong-Jones accepted the earldom of Snowdon after marrying Princess Margaret. To their credit, the late Angus Ogilvy and Mark Phillips – marrying Princesses Alexandra and Anne respectively – felt able to decline them. FORMER Doctor Who assistant Catherine Tate – she played opposite David Tennant – doesn’t regret her character being pushed out, as Jodie Whittaker becomes the first female Doctor. Commenting on the storyline where Tennant wiped her memory, she says: ‘I loved the brutal end.’ Cheer up Cath, at least they didn’t cast you as a Dalek.