Ephraim Hardcastle
Sarah Ferguson’s sudden suspension of her Storytime With Fergie and Friends on YouTube was announced on Instagram days before Prince andrew suffered his dramatic US court setback. Following her vocal support for her ex-husband, facing a sexual assault lawsuit, did she think it prudent to take a break? The duchess has been dressing up and reading children’s stories since 2020 but has now ceased spouting. however, any anxious parent hoping to coax their infant from behind the sofa be warned: Fergie is threatening to return.
IS the presence of Sophie Wessex in Qatar an indication that the royals are preparing to hold their noses over its iffy human rights record in this World Cup year? Good royal relations might make it much easier for Prince William, president of the Football Association, to attend the opening ceremony in November. Last time round he had to skip the 2018 Russia World Cup in the wake of the Salisbury poisonings. Before taking his seat at the Al Bayt Stadium, William can expect pressure to take a similar stand from human rights campaigners. However, like his friend, Qatar’s £150million World Cup ambassador David Beckham, he might look the other way.
CELEBRATING the centenary of Kingsley amis, pictured, roger Lewis unearths evidence that the novelist, who died in 1995, once shared a bed with his poet friend Philip Larkin in broadcaster Mavis Nicholson’s London home after they were too drunk to walk. ‘It amused Mavis no end to see they erected a big Berlin Wall barrier of pillows and bolsters down the middle of the bed,’ biographer Lewis writes in The Oldie. ‘and their shoes were placed on the floor in such a way as to facilitate a fast getaway. So who wasn’t quite trusting whom?’
WILL Boris have his ‘humble and sincere apology’ to Downing Street party investigator Sue Gray combat-ready? That’s what he offered standards adviser Lord Geidt after he forgot crucial information about the refurbishment of the Downing Street flat. When Geidt was edged out as the Queen’s private secretary after telling Charles and Andrew that his first duty was to the monarch, she festooned him with consoling honours including a peerage, the GCB, GCVO, the QSO and made him a permanent lord-in-waiting. Sue has a long way to go to match Geidt’s glittering collection.
DEPUTY Labour leader angela rayner offends GB News presenter Colin Brazier with her tweet defending her Stockport accent and grammar, adding: ‘I wasn’t Eton educated but... I was taught integrity, honesty and decency. Doesn’t matter how you say it. Boris Johnson is unfit to lead.’ retorts Bradford-born Brazier: ‘This is gratuitous class-baiting. There are plenty of working class folk who were taught the value of good grammar. I’m one of them. Find another stick to beat Boris with.’
LIKE a shamrock-festooned bird of prey, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power circles wounded Boris offering odds of 10/1 that he won’t last the week in Downing Street. And the odds on investigator Sue Gray being discovered as a party attendee and having to resign like predecessor Simon Case? 14/1.