■ HE LORDS

over the sumptuous Hovingham Hall in North Yorkshire — the childhood home of his aunt, the Duchess of Kent — and its 3,000-acre estate. But Sir William Worsley, 65, is occasionally obliged to rummage down the back of the sofa, as it were, to aid the upkeep of Hovingham, which costs more than £100,000 a year to run. Hence, presumably, next month’s Christie’s sale of a 4,500-year-old Egyptian statue given to Sir William’s ancestor by George III. It’s estimated to go for £4 million — enough to ensure that Hovingham remains in the family, as it has for the past 450 years.