Ephraim Hardcastle
BBC’S Nick Robinson’s obvious antagonism towards his Oxford contemporary Boris Johnson is identified by Old Etonian Charles Moore who, noting that Robinson is ‘almost obsessively opposed’ to Johnson, speculates: ‘Perhaps [it’s] because of his failure to gain election to the Bullingdon Club.’ Or is it that Charlie, a Cambridge man, has let slip his secret desire to have been a dickie-bowed wonder in the Bullingdon?
PRINCE Andrew’s post-Epstein suffering continues with his unusual absence from royal favourite Donald Gosling’s Westminster Abbey memorial service, compounded by his beloved Pitch@Palace event being unceremoniously dumped from St James’s Palace on the same day. To the disappointment of contenders, it was moved to the nearby Corinthia Hotel.
JUST a week to go for applicants to apply to be HM’s Director of Royal Travel, viewed as the cosiest Royal sinecure ever. The Queen doesn’t go abroad any more, junior royals are generally content with scheduled flights and the most frequent of flyers, Airmiles Andy, has had his wings clipped. Still, the successful applicant will find themselves surprisingly popular with senior royal staff, who enjoy upgrades on tickets booked by the palace’s travel desk.
HARRY and Meghan’s titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be debated by Brighton and Hove City Council next week after 3,696 locals signed a petition demanding it reject their usage. According to the signatories, the titles are ‘morally wrong and disrespectful to the county of East Sussex’. Don’t they have anything better to do at the seaside in December?
MISHAL Husain, pictured, abruptly censored any reference to James Naughtie’s famous mispronunciation of then culture supremo Jeremy Hunt’s name during a discussion on BBC’s Radio 4 when Simon Jack mischievously referred to the 2010 gaffe. ‘Yes, let’s not go there,’ she interjected. ‘I think we all remember and want to forget.’
KEEPING trim at 77, Sir Paul McCartney tells Radio 4: ‘When I was at school, the idea of doing gym was horrific, you wouldn’t catch me near a gym. Now I love it... I’m evolving!’ The silver fox’s battle with Father Time mercifully no longer includes dyeing his hair chestnut...
SWEDEN’s King Carl Gustaf, on his official visit to India, carried his own hand luggage. He’s also just axed the HRH title from five of his grandchildren. Monarchin-waiting Charles take note.
SUPER-rich ex-New York mayor Mike Bloomberg has only a slim chance of snatching the Democratic nomination to take on Donald Trump, whose muchexaggerated wealth is shrouded in lawsuits. But Bloomberg has shown he can hammer Trump with such wounding quips as: ‘They say there are two billionaires in this race. Who’s the other one?’