Ephraim Hardcastle
THE King has been invited to visit the newly renovated Villa Windsor in the Bois de Boulogne on his forthcoming state visit to Paris. The last time Charles set foot there was in 1972 when he accompanied his mother to see her uncle weeks before he died. The late Queen was offered the bureau upon which Edward VIII signed the 1936 instrument of abdication, to which she coolly replied: ‘Why would I want an abdication desk?’
VIRGIN Atlantic boss Richard Branson, pictured, will be unhappy with LBC’s revelation that pilots are considering strike action, warning: ‘There could soon be political pressure for the airline given that Captain Warren Braverman, brother-in-law of Home Secretary Suella Braverman, is on the Virgin Atlantic pilot roster – while James Mordaunt, brother of Leader of the House of Commons Penny, is a flight service manager.’ Will Beardie settle before it’s too late?
WHEN did the Duchess of Sussex first suffer a dip in her universal UK popularity? More than two years before her and Harry’s departure from the Royal Family, according to biographer Tom Bower. At Christmas 2018, walking to the service at Sandringham, Meghan was photographed in a navy coat by Victoria Beckham. Victoria was ‘dismayed’ after this had zero effect on sales, says Bower, who is writing a biography of the Beckhams. She tried again in March 2020 with a custom-made white coat and dress for Meghan, then pregnant, to wear for her last official appearance at Westminster Abbey. ‘By then,’ writes Bower, ‘Meghan’s popularity was failing. Her endorsement of Victoria’s label failed to improve sales.’
POLYMATH Mark Lawson manages to elevate a rant about the cost of televised Premier League games by citing LS Lowry’s 1953 painting Going to the Match. ‘From the packed stands and sense of late arrivals running to turnstiles, the scene can reliably be timed to around 2.55pm on the first day of the weekend,’ he calculates. ‘If an artist did a Lowry homage now, only microscopic inspection of wristwatches could hope to expose the day or time.’ What’s that all about, Mark?
GALLOPING to the defence of co-star Amanda Abbington after the Strictlybound Sherlock actress faced accusations of past ‘transphobia’, firecracker Frances Barber announces: ‘I’ve seen some stupid nonsensical nonsense about the wonderful Amanda Abbington doing Strictly. She’s an absolute diamond. And oh boy, watch her dance!’
AFTER reading H Montgomery Hyde’s The Trials of Oscar Wilde, Stephen Fry experienced a eureka moment. ‘I started to gasp and pant and feel simultaneously triumphant and terribly, terribly worried,’ he tells Radio Times. ‘As I read that, I knew that I was gay.’ But the final confirmation occurred watching the 1952 film of The Importance of Being Earnest. ‘It was like a bomb going off in my head,’ he gushes. ‘Whatever PG Wodehouse had done for me, this was the megaton version.’ Have you been sitting too near the screen during Oppenheimer, Stephen?