Ephraim Hardcastle
THE Duke of York’s refusal to co-operate with the FBI surely sounds the death knell for his Pitch@ Palace business initiative. All of its US events have been put on hold since the Epstein scandal with Andrew’s fear of subpoena or arrest putting paid to future trips stateside. Andrew’s de facto sacking from royal duties and the exodus of five key directors inflicted massive damage on the venture with the final straw being the Queen’s withdrawal of access to royal palaces for seminars and meetings. Without Palaces wither Pitch?
A crumb of comfort for Andrew is the US’s refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas – charged with the death of Harry Dunn by dangerous driving. Should the FBI seek the extradition of the Queen’s second son to answer questions, surely there’s not the remotest chance of Home Secretary Priti Patel acceding to the request.
BOOKMAKERS have Gyles Brandreth favourite to replace Just a Minute compere Nicholas Parsons. But it’s not a done deal. When show regular Kenneth Williams died in 1988, Parsons feared the BBC would axe the show saying: ‘Oh well, that’s the end of Just A Minute.’ He was wrong. He got another 30 years at the helm.
WAS Britt Ekland, pictured in her prime, wise to boast on Radio 4 that two of her films, The Wicker Man and Get Carter have been voted among Britain’s best? In Get Carter she appears briefly in a phone sex scene with Michael Caine and for her erotic dance scene in The Wicker Man her bare bum is replaced with that of a body double – a Glaswegian stripper.
ANGLICAN priest Giles Fraser hijacks Radio 4’s Thought For The Day slot attacking bishops for failing to support sex in homosexual relationships, adding: ‘The Church is prepared to offer blessings to ships of war, but withholds it from committed and loving relationships.’ Retired Today presenter John Humphrys always thought the segment ‘boring’. Not with Giles!
CHANNEL 5 scrapes the bottom of the programme barrel comparing Donald Trump to Henry VIII. Apart from both being germaphobes, it discovers another link explaining: ‘Both were given to branding opposition attacks “fake news” – or as Henry would have it “false fables”.’
NEW Zealand-born Russell Crowe complains of being rejected twice for Australian citizenship despite being on a list of living national living treasures, adding: ‘I am a face on a stamp. You can post a letter with me, you’ve just got to lick the back of my head!’
AMID the bric-a-bac and Victorian mementoes in Market Cross Antiques in the Somerset town of Somerton, a black and white portrait of a famous musician is offered for sale: Mick Jagger. It’s official, Mick’s an antique!